The 31-year-old Franz Schubert was already poorly when he moved into the apartment with his older brother Ferdinand (1794-1859) on 1 September 1828.
He was already ill and lived in a small room on the street side of the house, which had been built only the previous year.
Ferdinand, a teacher, writer and composer, had moved into the apartment, which was quite large for its time, together with his wife and several children before the walls had fully dried. The damp probably had an adverse affect on Schubert’s health.
Of all his brothers and sisters, Ferdinand was without doubt the closest to Franz. Even the publication of Franz’s “Deutsches Requiem” under Ferdinand’s name did not cause any loss of trust between the brothers.
Schubert was already well known in Vienna as a composer, particularly on account of his lieder. In March 1828 he gave his first public concert in the Musikverein, at the time still located at Untern den Tuchlauben.
He continued to work on his compositions until the end. On his sickbed he corrected the second part of his “Winterreise” lieder cycle and began several compositions, including the lied “Taubenpost”, which survive today only in the form of jottings.
On November 1828, just two and half months after moving in, the composer died of typhoid fever. He was buried two days later in Währing cemetery near Beethoven. The cemetery was closed in 1888 and the mortal remains of Schubert and Beethoven were transferred to honorary graves in the Central Cemetery.
Ferdinand subsequently took care of Franz’s musical estate and worked for the dissemination and appreciation of his works for the rest of his life.
In 1839 Robert Schumann bought from him the manuscript of the unfinished Piano Sonata in C Major D. 840, known as “Reliquie”.
