Goethe House, where Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was born in 1749 - Frankfurt, Hesse

Getty Images/Lonely Planet Images

Goethe-Haus

Frankfurt am Main


Completely rebuilt after WWII (only the cellar survived Allied bombing), the birthplace of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) is furnished in the haute-bourgeois style of Goethe’s time, based on an inventory taken when Goethe’s family sold the property. One of the few pieces that actually belonged to the great writer, philosopher and statesman is a puppet theatre given to him at age four. The Goethe-Museum (included in admission) displays seminal paintings from Goethe's era.