2023-07-05 16:19:41
Oestrich-Winkel (Hessen) – 209 years ago, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) spent eight days in the Rheingau – in the Brentanohaus. It wasn’t the eight days that made the house famous. But that it hasn’t changed since Goethe’s visit. Everything stood in the same place for two centuries, as if Goethe had only left yesterday.
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There were eight moving days in the summer of 1814. Before that, Goethe was taking a cure in Wiesbaden. Besieged by fans there, he could hardly take a step without being followed. And so he withdrew to the Brentano family home.
Goethe’s study
Photo: Sven Moschitz
This is where the great German poet prince loved and drank, where he groaned in the morning, walked, celebrated and wrote in seclusion – in a house full of women. Among others Antoine Brentano (1780-1869), then 34 years old, Goethe was 65.
“He felt erotically comfortable”
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Bunzel (62), responsible for the Brentano House at Freie Deutsches Hochstift: “Goethe appreciated it when younger women looked after him. He felt comfortable in an erotic way. And that is what makes a connoisseur. But nothing ever happened here.” At least it wasn’t left in writing.
Prof. Dr. Gerd Weiß (73) from the circle of friends of the Brentanohaus: “The women were here in the house for the summer holidays, the men work in Frankfurt.”
Hanging on the wall in the house: handwritten card (“autograph”) from Goethe to the Brentanos
Photo: Sven Moschitz
Bunzel: “Goethe had exchanged letters with Antoine, which shows the close friendship between the two.”
Goethe liked to drink here and he drank a lot. As soon as he got up, when he came back from his walk. Prof. Dr. Gerd Weiß (73) from the Friends of the Brentanohaus: “Goethe walked in his dressing gown through the arcade to the Rhine. You weren’t allowed to talk to him about it. He wrote. Then he came back, poking around in the food. And then drank wine. Goethe could almost always drink wine.”
Prof. Dr. Gerd Weiß (73) from the Friends of the Brentanohaus in the Great Salon, which was renovated for the first time in 209 years – Goethe drank wine here
Photo: Sven Moschitz
Goethe’s favorite wine: the 1811 Winkeler Hasensprung. One of the best vintages the Rheingau has ever had.
Bunzel: “At that time it was normal to always mix the white wine with water. That’s why Goethe was able to drink a lot. It had a stimulating effect on writing.”
His bed, his sofa, his desk! And even the vines – all still there. At that time, the arcade was the longest north of the Alps. A small part of the original is still preserved today.
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Bunzel (62), responsible for the Brentano house from the Freies Deutsches Hochstift in the arcade with some of the original vines that Goethe has already seen
Photo: Sven Moschitz
The Brentano family lived in the house until 2014. Due to a backlog of renovations and a lack of money, the Brentano family sold the jewel of romance to the state of Hesse. It has been renovated since 2015. Cost: 3.5 million euros.
The Great Salon alone with Goethe’s bedroom and study cost 400,000 euros. Subsidy came from the German Foundation for Monument Protection with 750,000 euros. And from the circle of friends. They had all the furniture by Goethe and Brentano restored in the salon with donations.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)
Foto: akg-images / © Photo Researcher
The salon was empty for two years – for the first time in 209 years. Everything is back now. Bunzel: “We didn’t outsource anything for the renovation, everything stayed in-house. It would have been too risky.”
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