Klassik Stiftung Weimar / Goethes Gartenhaus

Goethes Gartenhaus stands in the middle of the Park an der Ilm in Weimar; it belongs to the ensemble „Klassisches Weimar“ and has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage since 1998. The building is situated at the foot of the Horn, not far from the Corona-Schröter-Weg, and forms an intimate connection between the poet’s home and workplace and the surrounding parkland.

The garden house, which dates approximately from the 16th century, was acquired in 1776 by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, after the slope had previously been used for fruit and vegetable cultivation. A purchase contract dated 22 April 1776 documents the acquisition; the purchase price was provided from ducal funds, while Goethe outwardly appeared as the buyer. In the following years Goethe had the grounds and the house repaired, established espaliers and planted roses, grapevines and honeysuckle. A wooden altan, erected in 1777 and later removed, is known from a depiction by Georg Melchior Kraus. At that time the garden served both practical purposes and a design renewal of the Ilm Park in the spirit of the Wörlitzer Modell. Although Goethe moved into the town in 1782, the garden house remained his preferred retreat until his last visit in 1832.

Important works were created in this house: parts of the prose version of Iphigenie auf Tauris, work on Egmont and Torquato Tasso, as well as well-known poems such as „An den Mond“, „Rastlose Liebe“ and „Jägers Abendlied“. Today the house is arranged as a museum that offers insights into Goethe’s life and working methods. In the 1990s the idea arose to recreate the garden house as a lightweight replica; such a reproduction was finally realized in 1999, later exhibited at Expo 2000 and presented since 2002 as Goethes Gartenhaus II in Bad Sulza.

The interior conveys Goethe’s everyday domestic life: the ground floor houses the so-called „Erdsälgen“, a dining room with original oak tables and mineral cabinets, as well as a kitchen with a stove, fireplace and sink from Goethe’s time. On the upper floor, stairs lead to an antechamber with portrait busts, a belvedere room with family and friends’ reliefs, and a study with a standing desk, fireplace and numerous drawings by Goethe. Library furniture from 1776 to 1782 has been preserved; the bedroom displays the folding travel bed and a herbarium press as used by Goethe.