Frankfurter Goethe-Haus und Freies Deutsches Hochstift (Frankfurt Goethe-Museum and Goethe-House)

In the home of the polymath: this is where little Goethe played with theatre puppets and wrote "Die Leiden des jungen Werther".

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was born in the house on Großer Hirschgraben on 28 August 1749. If you believe the poet himself, he was born at noon sharp - at least that's what he wrote in a draft for "Dichtung und Wahrheit" (Poetry and Truth). The document is one of the exhibits that can be seen in the Goethe House today. In this large town house, the future polymath played as a four-year-old with the puppet theatre that his grandmother gave him and which is also part of the exhibition today. He later wrote the original version of "Faust" and "Götz von Berlichingen" here. In 1775, "Die Leiden des jungen Werther" made him famous in one fell swoop, and just one year later Goethe, aged just 26, accepted an invitation to Weimar and left his hometown behind. It honours its great son wherever it can. The birthplace, which was destroyed in the war, was faithfully reconstructed in 1951 and today the tour takes you through the kitchen, dining room, music room and bel étage. You will get a feel for Goethe's world and can get an impression of how he created world literature in this house - preferably at a standing desk, as can be seen in his room today.