19. What was the colour of Beethoven's eyes and hair?

Brown, as stated by Schindler in his biography. Some contemporaries called his hair black, or even coal-black, but the paintings show that dark-brown is more likely. The painting of Beethoven as a 13-year-old shows light-brown hair, but often such hair will darken upon growing older (and later on will lighten again due to old age). There is some confusion about the colour of his eyes, due to the testimony of painter Klober, who many years after he had met Beethoven recalled that he had greyish-blueish eyes. Probably his memory didn't serve him well, for not only the still somewhat doubtful painting of the child Beethoven, but also the surely genuine paintings of later years (Hornemann, Mahler, Stieler, Waldmuller) show brown or brownish eyes. See also the portrait gallery.