Beethoven, on his deathbed, was shown a painting of Franz Joseph Haydn’s birthplace in the village Rohrau. This market town was set down in the monotonous marshlands along the Leitha River in Lower Austria. (Rohrau is translated from the German for reedy meadow.) Every few years in spring the river flooded the low-lying countryside. In the dry season the townspeople were often fearful, for every summer a few thatched roofs would catch fire. When the mosquitoes rose from the swamps they wer... Bartel's Blog / Bartel's Blog