Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1749-1832) is, of course, one of Germany's most famous writers. Whenever we have visitors from out of town, we like to prepare Goethe's favorite meal Grüne Soße (green sauce). A fitting follow-up activity is going into Frankfurt and visiting his place of birth am Großer Hirschgraben.
Only the first four stairs inside the house are from the original house; the rest was destroyed during the War. Those stone stairs are interesting though because Germans have the expression that if people are very rich, they are "steinreich" (stone rich), and that is because only the very rich could afford such stairs in the home; the rest had wooden staircases.
Another special artifact in the Goethe house is its "wundersame Uhr," the astronomical clock that Goethe had admired as a child. It was designed by his tutor, a lawyer whose hobbies were astronomy, math, and mechanics. Clocks in those days (ca. 1750) were only beginning to show the correct time. Hüsgen's clock is amazing even for today's standards and shows the zodiac sign, the date, and the phase of the moon, as well as the time.
Other than that, we appreciated the house's "Frankfurter Schrank," the large cupboard in which the 100+ sets of linens were kept in those days when wash day was only a few times a year. And I found the high writing desk inspiring, where Goethe began Faust.
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