Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Johann Wolfgang Goethe, who came to Thuringia from Frankfurt/Main as a young man, was more than an inspired poet during his time here. As a minister, librarian, theatre director and sometimes scientist and architect, he left his marks in Ilmenau, Erfurt, Jena, Rudolstadt and Gotha and, above all, in Weimar.

Goethe's former home with the Goethe National Museum, his Garden House and the Goethe Schiller Monument outside the German National Theatre are outstanding attractions in this city of literary Classicism, his home for 50 years. In Thuringia, Goethe is ubiquitous as he also enjoyed frequent visits to Jena and the nearby Dornburg Castles, Ilmenau and the Thuringian Forest, Kochberg Castle and many other places.