Goethe House (Weimar)

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe lived during his life several houses in Weimar.

The space- dominant, elongated building is referred to on the south side of the women's plan ( in the literature also house called the woman plan), built in 1707-1709 by the royal chamber Commissioner and stocking dealer Georg Caspar Helmershausen As Goethe's house. Since 1998 it belongs as part of the ensemble " Classical Weimar " a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Building and use

The entire front house that is oriented to the north to the women's plan, are the representative living rooms as well as rooms Goethe's collection. In offset therefrom to the south to the garden facing the rear building, which extends parallel to the front house on the same plot width, were in Goethe's time the economy rooms, stables, carriage and sleigh carriage house as well as the private working, living and sleeping rooms of the poet and his wife Christiane. A wide barnyard lies between these two building structures. However, these are the left and right sides, connected by internal development programs, some stairs; another connection is on the first floor is the so-called bridge room; it performs exactly centered over the yard in the rear building and a direct extension through the subsequent garden room on a covered wooden outdoor staircase. From there you can reach the garden with the two baroque garden houses, which was even then surrounded by a wall.

• Upper floor: seen from the woman plan her, is above the previously used central main entrance, the Yellow Room, also known as the Yellow Room ( two window -center), west / right of the Junozimmer ( three windows ); it closes above the right carriage driveway the Urbinozimmer ( three windows ) that of which opens out via a spiral staircase in the rear wing and the secret annex. To the east (left ) of the two central window of the Yellow Room close the next two windows of the ceiling room where the remainder of the Majolicazimmer (a window ), the earlier times, served as their bedroom and now takes Goethe's porcelain collection, as well as the great collection room ( the three windows ) above the left carriage driveway. From there, as well as from the Yellow room opened into the private dining room Small, which was the Goethe- family subject, and in the warming kitchen, both of which are aligned to the inner courtyard.
• Ground floor: right next to the former, central main entrance is located behind the western three windows of the Goethe newly designed staircase, to the left of the central entrance there was the old servant apartment whose rooms are used today next to the checkout area for temporary exhibitions.

• Upper floor: also her thought from the woman plan, the center of the rear wing Goethe's located in the western part / right office with a foyer, which also took up a part of his collection of minerals, his private library with 5424 titles in about 7000 volumes, his bedroom and the writers room. The eastern (left) part of the rear building houses Christiane's room. All these rooms have a direct view of the garden.
• Ground floor: in addition to the earlier economic rooms, which are in the presence of partially museum for internal purposes such as administration, warehouse and show room, opens the central courtyard produces a staircase both the garden and the top floor of the rear building.

History of the House

The house was probably rented from the very beginning to a large extent or even completely. After the death of the owner of the house was inherited by his son, the Saxe- Weimar Konsistorialrat God Help Friedrich Helmershausen and later his descendants. In 1771 it was bought by the Garnisonsrat Dr. Paul Johann Friedrich Helmershausen together with the Western half of the garden. The house was partially rented at this time.

In 1782, Goethe rented the western half of the house. These included, among others, today the Yellow Room, the Juno and the Urbinozimmer, the western part of the rear building and a large part of the ground floor. After Goethe's journey to Italy from 1786 to 1788 he lived until 1789 in these rooms. From 1789 to 1792 Goethe rented one of the so-called cabins at St Mary Street, to live with Christiane Vulpius before he married her in 1806.

1792 acquired the ducal chamber on behalf of the Duke Carl August of Saxe- Weimar -Eisenach, the house wife plan and left it to Goethe as a service apartment, which he then lived together with Christiane. 1794 gave the Duke Goethe 's house orally and in writing in 1801, but it was only on 12 January 1807 Goethe was officially is. In the years 1792 to 1795 extensive alterations were made, the cost has been disputed in part by the ducal chamber. This is especially the inner, wide staircase mentioned, which led directly into the Yellow Room, and the Goethe specially designed in the Italian style.

After Goethe's death in 1832 the daughter Ottilie and her three children inherited the house, it will continue lived. The actual living and working spaces Goethe, however, were not used until 1885 and remained largely closed.

As in 1885, the last grandson of Goethe, Walther von Goethe died, according to the will of the Weimar state received the house on the woman plan and Goethe extensive collections. On August 8, 1885, the Goethe National Museum was established as a charitable foundation. On July 3, 1886, the front house, and later presented the working and living areas as a museum. The World War II sometimes considerably destroyed the west wing of the front building on the carriage entrance was reconstructed. Valuable furniture and other items of equipment had been outsourced to security. Today, the Goethe National Museum include the entire house, the garden, including the second-row farm buildings and, seen from the woman plan, left the house next door, where since the Capital of Culture year 1999 to mid- October 2008, a permanent exhibition entitled " Repeated reflections " was located.