Goethe House, Frankfurt, Guida per visitatori e cosa fare nei dintorni

Goethe House (Goethehaus) on Großer Hirschgraben in Frankfurt is the town house where Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was born in 1749 and spent his childhood. Destroyed in the Second World War and rebuilt afterwards, it is now a museum and one of the best-known literary sites in Germany.

The story behind it

Goethe, the writer who went on to shape German literature, was born in this house in Frankfurt and grew up here in a well-off merchant family. He lived here through his youth, left to study, and later came back to the family home before moving on to Weimar, where he spent most of his adult life.

The original building was destroyed in the Second World War, during the bombing of Frankfurt. After the war it was rebuilt and reopened to visitors, with the aim of recreating the look and feel of the family home. What you see today is therefore a careful reconstruction rather than an untouched 18th-century house, which is part of its story.

What to look for

• The tall, narrow facade of the house, with its regular rows of windows, shows how a prosperous Frankfurt family lived in the 18th century.
• The contrast between the rebuilt house and the buildings around it is a reminder of how much of the old city was lost and how much was rebuilt.
• The entrance to the museum is a good place to pause and picture the Goethe family coming and going on this street.
• Just next door, the Deutsches Romantik-Museum continues the literary theme and is easy to spot while you are here.

Tips for your visit

• You can go inside, as the house is a museum. Check current opening hours and ticket details before you go.
• Allow about an hour for the interior, or a few minutes if you only want to see the facade and take photos.
• Morning is usually calmer, and the street is easier to photograph before midday groups arrive.
• The house sits in the centre of Frankfurt, so it combines easily on foot with the old town and the main shopping streets nearby.

See it on a quest

The quest Following the footsteps of Goethe in Frankfurt brings you to Goethe House on foot as one stop of a longer route through the city. The app tells you about each place as you arrive, and you solve a puzzle right in front of what you are looking at, so you notice details you would otherwise walk past. One ticket covers the whole group, and you can start whenever suits you, with no guide and no set departure time.