Goethe House

About

The Goethe House is a writer's house museum located in the Innenstadt district of Frankfurt, Germany. It is the birthplace and childhood home of German poet and playwright Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. It is also the place where Goethe wrote his famous works Götz von Berlichingen, The Sorrows of Young Werther, and the first drafts of Urfaust. The house has mostly been operated as a museum since its 1863 purchase by the Freies Deutsches Hochstift (Free German Foundation), displaying period furniture and paintings from Goethe's time in the house. The Goethe House was destroyed by Allied bombing in World War II, during a nightraid by the RAF, but reconstructed afterwards. It is located adjacent to the Deutsches Romantik-Museum, which opened in 2021. The house and museum can be visited with the same ticket.

The house was first built around 1618 by Flemish goldsmith Matthis van Hinsberg. It went through a series of owners before being purchased in 1733 by Cornelia Goethe, the grandmother of Johann Wolfgang, who had previously owned an inn on the nearby Zeil. Cornelia purchased two adjoining properties and inhabited both of them; they were connected by destroying the partition wall. Johann Caspar Goethe, Cornelia's son and Johann Wolfgang's father, moved into the property in 1741, and lived there with his wife Catharina Elisabeth Goethe from 1748.

In 1754, Cornelia died, and her son quickly set about renovating the house on Großer Hirschgraben. Johann Caspar was the architect of his own project, but also sought assistance from his friend Johann Friedrich Armand von Uffenbach [ de ]. The project involved knocking down the smaller of the adjoining properties and extending the remaining property to create one, large property encompassing the full lot. The renovations began in April 1755, and were finished by February 1756.

As Goethe writes in his autobiography Dichtung und Wahrheit (Poetry and Truth), his father was careful to preserve the double overhang of the facade, which was not permitted in new buildings under the codes of 1719 and 1749 due to fire risks; Johann Caspar was allowed to extend the overhanging facade as it was seen as a modification of an existing building, rather than a new-build. The resulting property remained structurally unchanged after the 1755–56 renovation.

An artist's representation of the property before the 1755–56 renovation. The completed house as it stood in 1850. Johann Wolfgang first left the house in October 1765, to study law in Leipzig. He returned in 1768 due to an illness, before leaving again to finish his studies in Strasbourg (1770–71). After returning from Strasbourg, Goethe would live at the family house in Frankfurt (bar a four month stay in Wetzlar in 1772) until leaving permanently for Weimar in November 1775. During this time in Frankfurt, Goethe wrote and published Götz von Berlichingen and The Sorrows of Young Werther, which established his fame across Europe. He also wrote the first drafts of Urfaust in this period.

Johann Caspar died in 1782, after which Catharina Elisabeth was the inhabited the house alone. She rented out some rooms to other inhabitants. In May 1795, Catharina sold the house and moved into a smaller apartment.

After leaving the Goethe family, the house was sold to widow Anna Catharina Rössing, whose family owned the Goethe House until 1861. They rented out rooms to other families. In 1861, the house sold again, to Johann Georg Clauer, who split the first floor into two shops; this required significant changes, such as the installation of two new entrances and separating walls.

Ownership by the Freies Deutsches Hochstift

In 1863, the Goethe House was purchased by geologist Otto Volger, the founder and chairman of the Freies Deutsches Hochstift (Free German Foundation). The Hochstift restored the house to its state at the time of Johann Wolfgang Goethe's childhood, to serve as a memorial to the famed poet and playwright. The Goethe House also served as a centre for the Hochstift's activities; a room on the ground floor became a reading-room, and a room on the first floor became a lecture hall for public lectures. Other rooms were used to house the collections and exhibitions of the Hochstift. The house was opened to the public for the first time since in its history, and thus became the first public memorial to Goethe; the Goethe House in Weimar would not open until 1885. The house became a museum, decorated with period furniture and paintings, attempting to recreate authentically the environment in which Goethe spent his youth. After receiving a large bequest from Adolf Müller, the land to the west of the house was purchased in 1888. The Goethe Museum was built on this site. Designed by Franz von Hoven [ de ], it opened in 1897, and contained a library, as well as exhibition space for the Hochstift's collections. The restoration of the Goethe House to its 18th-century condition was completed in 1926.

The house and museum were destroyed during the Allied bombing of Frankfurt on 22 March 1944, along with much of the Frankfurt old city.

After its destruction, there was a substantial debate as to what should become of the Goethe House. Some suggested that the site should be kept in ruins, fenced in and given a sign to signify the house's former existence. Others saw the rebuilding as unnecessary, at least directly after the war, as many were still living in unsatisfactory conditions. The Freies Deutsches Hochstift, on the other hand, wanted the house to be rebuilt exactly as it stood; this was the plan accepted by the Frankfurt municipality, and thus the reconstruction began in 1947. The reconstruction was led by architect Theo Kellner. The process was aided by the fact that there were many surviving plans and pictures of the house. In 1951, the Goethe House was re-opened to the public by Theodor Heuss, then President of Germany.

When the adjacent Deutsches Romantik-Museum was opened in 2021, the Goethe House became accessible through it, using the same ticket.

The house was first built around 1618 by Flemish goldsmith Matthis van Hinsberg. It went through a series of owners before being purchased in 1733 by Cornelia Goethe, the grandmother of Johann Wolfgang, who had previously owned an inn on the nearby Zeil. Cornelia purchased two adjoining properties and inhabited both of them; they were connected by destroying the partition wall. Johann Caspar Goethe, Cornelia's son and Johann Wolfgang's father, moved into the property in 1741, and lived there with his wife Catharina Elisabeth Goethe from 1748.

In 1754, Cornelia died, and her son quickly set about renovating the house on Großer Hirschgraben. Johann Caspar was the architect of his own project, but also sought assistance from his friend Johann Friedrich Armand von Uffenbach [ de ]. The project involved knocking down the smaller of the adjoining properties and extending the remaining property to create one, large property encompassing the full lot. The renovations began in April 1755, and were finished by February 1756.

As Goethe writes in his autobiography Dichtung und Wahrheit (Poetry and Truth), his father was careful to preserve the double overhang of the facade, which was not permitted in new buildings under the codes of 1719 and 1749 due to fire risks; Johann Caspar was allowed to extend the overhanging facade as it was seen as a modification of an existing building, rather than a new-build. The resulting property remained structurally unchanged after the 1755–56 renovation.

An artist's representation of the property before the 1755–56 renovation. The completed house as it stood in 1850. Johann Wolfgang first left the house in October 1765, to study law in Leipzig. He returned in 1768 due to an illness, before leaving again to finish his studies in Strasbourg (1770–71). After returning from Strasbourg, Goethe would live at the family house in Frankfurt (bar a four month stay in Wetzlar in 1772) until leaving permanently for Weimar in November 1775. During this time in Frankfurt, Goethe wrote and published Götz von Berlichingen and The Sorrows of Young Werther, which established his fame across Europe. He also wrote the first drafts of Urfaust in this period.

Johann Caspar died in 1782, after which Catharina Elisabeth was the inhabited the house alone. She rented out some rooms to other inhabitants. In May 1795, Catharina sold the house and moved into a smaller apartment.

After leaving the Goethe family, the house was sold to widow Anna Catharina Rössing, whose family owned the Goethe House until 1861. They rented out rooms to other families. In 1861, the house sold again, to Johann Georg Clauer, who split the first floor into two shops; this required significant changes, such as the installation of two new entrances and separating walls.

In 1863, the Goethe House was purchased by geologist Otto Volger, the founder and chairman of the Freies Deutsches Hochstift (Free German Foundation). The Hochstift restored the house to its state at the time of Johann Wolfgang Goethe's childhood, to serve as a memorial to the famed poet and playwright. The Goethe House also served as a centre for the Hochstift's activities; a room on the ground floor became a reading-room, and a room on the first floor became a lecture hall for public lectures. Other rooms were used to house the collections and exhibitions of the Hochstift. The house was opened to the public for the first time since in its history, and thus became the first public memorial to Goethe; the Goethe House in Weimar would not open until 1885. The house became a museum, decorated with period furniture and paintings, attempting to recreate authentically the environment in which Goethe spent his youth. After receiving a large bequest from Adolf Müller, the land to the west of the house was purchased in 1888. The Goethe Museum was built on this site. Designed by Franz von Hoven [ de ], it opened in 1897, and contained a library, as well as exhibition space for the Hochstift's collections. The restoration of the Goethe House to its 18th-century condition was completed in 1926.

The house and museum were destroyed during the Allied bombing of Frankfurt on 22 March 1944, along with much of the Frankfurt old city.