Joyce Maier wrote in response to me:

>>The radio program I listened to (and it is a very reputable station)
>>quoted from a letter by Beethoven himself where he links his deafness
>>to a venereal infection.  Either they or you are wrong.
>
>Do you recall which letter they talked about?

Not exactly. I remember a quotation where Beethoven links his deafness
to the condition of "mein Unterleib" (my abdomen).

Robert