To: Nikolaus Zmeskall von Domanovecz
Baden, September, 1813

Dear Z[meskall],

     I shall be away today – Don’t forget my contrivances à la Degen [Anderson footnote: “Jakob Degen (1756t-1846), of Swiss extraction, was a successful printer and clockmaker in Vienna, who had invented a flying machine with which he had been making experiments since 1808, both in Vienna and in Paris.  In 1816 he even tried his hand at making a model helicopter.  Beethoven was very much interested in Degen’s attempts to fly.”] and come to Baden soon, for the weather is beginning to improve –

                                                                           Your friend
                                                                                             Beethoven