Built in the 18th-century bourgeois style, this house is where famed German author and poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was born—to Johann Caspar Goethe, a lawyer, and Catharina Elisabeth Textor, daughter of the city mayor—and grew up alongside his sister, Cornelia. Restored as closely as possible to its original condition after being destroyed in World War II, it features period interiors, notable paintings, and original furnishings, including the desk at which Goethe wrote Götz von Berlichingen, The Sorrows of Young Werther, and Faust. A neighboring museum focuses on Goethe’s literary legacy, as well as paintings and sculptures from the 18th and 19th centuries that highlight the writer’s relationship to art.
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Historic Home of a Literary Legend
German writer and statesman Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was born in 1749 in the house at Großer Hirschgraben 23-25. The building is now open to the public both as a memorial to the man and as a monument to how the gentry lived in the 18th century. Inside, visitors can tour the three-storey house which is still fully-furnished with original and reproduction pieces. Highlights include Goethe’s writing desk and library.
