Goethes Gartenhaus

A FAVORITE PLACE OF THE POET

The Park an der Ilm is one of the most beautiful and idyllic places in Weimar in the green heart of Thuringia - that's what visitors and locals alike all find. In the midst of the huge tree-lined complex, a bright building flashes forth: Goethe's Garden House-the poet's first home when he came to Weimar.

Although Goethe bought the little house and plot itself, the money for it flowed from the casket of the duke. The original winegrower's house gradually became his first Weimar domicile. He lived and worked there for almost six years, before moving to the stately building on Frauenplan in 1782.

The garden house remained in his possession and in the summer of 1788 he met Christiane Vulpius there, when she presented him with a petition for her brother. What you see today in furniture in the garden house corresponds to the original inventory.

It can be pictorially imagined how the poet lingered at his lectern with a seat in the study, plunged the quill into the inkwell and scrawled fresh works on the paper. In the bedroom you also see his easily assembled travel cot – designed to protect him from vermin in guest beds. Surely you know the ballad of "Erlkönig" from your school days?

It was created here in Goethe's garden house. Also the well-known poem "An den Mond" and the poem "Ilmenau", which Goethe presented to Duke Carl August of Saxe-Weimar on his 26th birthday, were written by the poet in this place. Apparently, the scenic location on the Ilmhang was inspiring for him.

Even in his elderly years, he used the house as a retreat. Near the garden house is the "stone of good luck" - Goethe had the monument built himself at that time. It is a sphere resting on a cube and was one of the first non-figurative monuments in Germany.

The copy of Goethe's Weimarer Gartenhaus was originally built in Weimar on the framework of the Weimar cultural year 1999. The reason was quite simple: they wanted to spare the original garden shed. In 2002 it was transported to the Thuringian town of Bad Sulza and opened with a view of the Toskana Therme.

In Berka, very close to Sondershausen, there is the ancestral home of the Goethe family, which was then written by Göthe. The builder was the great-great-grandfather of Johann Wolfgang Goethe. But the poet laureate never learned of his ancestors from Berka, although he is said to have made intensive inquiries.

The Klassik Stiftung Weimar includes other museums such as Goethe's residential building, Schiller's home as well as the Herzogin Anna Amalia library. In the Weimarhaus, you can also take an audio guide to an exciting journey through the cultural city. TIP: Whether as a couple or as a tour group - there are numerous themed city tours. Please come to us and we will find the right offer for you!