OT query: "Elise"--slang in German?

[Cohen, Gerald Leonard]

A student has asked me if "Elise" is Viennese slang for "attractive woman"
and whether this might be what Beethoven had in mind when he wrote his piece "Für Elise." --- A search of Google turns up some vague (and probably incorrect) references to both.
   Would anyone on the ads-l list know about "Elise" possibly being slang and whether there really was a woman named Elise for whom Beethoven wrote his piece?
   Any help would be much appreciated.

Gerald Cohen

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