[JBW1949]

I am 76 years old and this is the first time I ever saw his name as Ludwig VAN Beethoven...I had always seen or heard Ludwig VON Beethoven....

[AnAmericanMother]

It is “Van”. That is Flemish and place (geographic)- derived.. “Von” is German and is used as an indication of nobility.

[fishtank]

Von Halen??

Haha!!

[Publius]

"Von" meant you were a member of the nobility in the German and Austrian world. "Van" meant you were a member of the nobility in the Dutch world.

The two worlds didn't translate. Beethoven tried to litigate the matter of the custody of his nephew in the Austrian court of the nobility, but when the judges discovered that Van and Von weren't the same thing, the case was moved to the court of the commoners.

He was always Van because his family entered the German-speaking world from the Netherlands.

[higgmeister]

I am 76 years old and this is the first time I ever saw his name as Ludwig VAN Beethoven...I had always seen or heard Ludwig VON Beethoven....

I'm only 72 but I'm with you.   It was always Ludwig Von Beethoven but after I did a couple of searches I found out why they're pushing the geographic particle, "Van".   We always knew Baron von Richthofen was of nobility which the nobiliary particle, "von", signified.   But the liberal leftists of the world cannot have that, because Van Beethoven means, “from the beetroot yard."

[HereInTheHeartland]

“ Ludwig VAN Beethoven..”

That’s his Dutch cousin