Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-12-18
THE LOVE AFFAIRS OF GOETHE
BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS
The Star and the Chicago Record-Herald.

BY wILLIAl
Written for The Star and
The home Of Goethe at Weimar is pre-
served precisely as he left it, like the
homes Of Schiller and List.
Welmar 1t is an interesting place
H. and it is visited by thou
~AOAS' sands of people every year.
1t belongs to the state and is kept IN
order by the proceeds of admission fees
collected from visitors. The house was
presented to Goethe In 1916 by the Grand
Duke of Saxony, and at that time. ex-
cepting the palace, was one of the most
pretentiOus residences jim Weimar. 1t Is
situated upon the principal street. which
makes curve at that point. so that the
front Of the house describes wide cres-
cent. There is a lovely garden in the
rear where Goethe frequently had his
luncheon and dinner, and where he often
sat with convivial friends Of an evening:
A seat under a large birch tree is pointed
out as his favOrite lOafng place, where
he read and wrote almost every summer
day for nearly half a century.
Goethe's printed works and manuscripts
were removed in 1876 to museum erect
ed by the grand duke in memory of
Goethe and Schiller. 1t is a beautiful
building of classic architecture and con-
tains all Of the editions Of Schiller and
Goethe that have ever been published in
any language. including the Weimar edi-
ton of Goethe in $50 volumes. There are
hundreds of manuscripts OF both Goethe
and Schiller. including the originals of
their most celebrated works, and hun
cravings, wood cuts, drawings for illus
trations and similar literary archives.
Many OF them have been contributed,
others have been purchased. 1t was an
Qct IF nat f1,n orf Of he lot ia
duke to provide this building and to en-
dow it with fund sufficient for it's pres
ervation,
The personal relics Of both poets are
preserved in their homes, which is equally
appropriate. Goethes Ii
Personal brary is practically intact
p.,:.. and comprises about
AS0"' 1900 volumes, mostly
classics He owned several valuable pic
lures and an interesting collection of
drawings and sketches. He was evidently
collector of curios and left several hun
dred pieces of porcelain. old china. glass
and terra Gotta. There are many wood
and ivory carvings pieces of bronze and
marble, and series of ca binets contain
ing 1900 natural history specimens of
little value. The drawing room is hand
somely furnished and the walls are deco
rated with portraits of Goethe and sew
eral of his friends. which were evidently
presented by. them. The Juno room,'
SO called because it contains a colossal
figure of that goddess. was Goethe S
music room. and a piano which has felt
the touch of Mendelssohn and other ia
nous musicians remains as he left it.
The most interesting part of the house,
however. Is the upper floor, where are
They are severely plain. III the study is
an ordinary deal table, such as you would
upon which the most important works Of
the greatest Of German authors were
written. Connected with it by little
door. which is so low that he must have
stopped to enter. is the smallest room in
the house, hardly larger than the ordi-
nary bathroom, with narrow window
opening upon the garden. This was
Goethe's sleeping room. and. 'Eith afrec-
tomato reverence, it has been Lea. exactly
as it was at his death. seventy-nine years
ago. There is plain, narrow bed.
small table containing teapot, cup and
a bottle of medicine. a washstand with
basin, pitcher, soap dish and sponge,
and a tiny shaving stand with a narrow
mirror.
Beside the bed is an armchair in which
Goethe sat when he died, March o. 1897
His daughter-in-law sat by his side hold
ing his hand to the end. His last words
were: more light.
u X
A long chapter would be necessary to
relate the love stories of Goethe. He was
always mixed up in an at
Numerous fair with some woman. His
first sweetheart was Crotch
AAdlIs. en-, a girl Of humble station,
with whom he fell in love when he was
only sixteen years old and a student at
Leipzig. She was TRANSPORTED in his
ina gination. and idealized so that 1t Is
impossible to judge precisely who or what
she was but he forgot her after a brief
interval, and when he went to Strass-
burg University five years later he fell
desperately in love with the daughter of
a dancing master named Sitting Pastor
Herder the poet, who held chair in the
faculty OF the university at that time.
seems to have helped him out Of that
scrape but he Immediately fell into an
other abyss of love and became betrothed
to Frederika, daughter of a clergyman
at Sesenheim, whom he met in company
with some vOf his classmates. This en-
gagement lasted only year, for when
1772, upon taking his doctors degree at
Strassburg, he forgot all about his en-
gagement and became infatuated with
Charlotte Buff, a young lady OF that
place. CntlI tNeu l0 Ildu Uccu ITTcSISuOIc,
as he usually was in his flirtations during
the rest of his life, but Miss Buf-there
is a strong temptation to make a pun
on her name-jilted him in a heartless
manner and married q Mr.. kestner.
Goethes heart was broken. bua it was
easily repaired.
About that time a fellow-student COM
mitted suicide because the wife of one
of his friends refused to respond to his
unhappy passion. Goethe WOve the Incl
dents Of that romance and his own into
his first successful novel. which he called
THE Sorrows Of Werther." His own eX>
perience and that Of his cOmrade were
portrayed in such a vivid manner that
the book created a prodigious sensation.
Critics were enthusiastic over it's liter
airy style and dramatic situations, while
the public was carried away by it's pa
thOS and romance.
His vanity was gratified and the
wounds Of his heart were cured by the
public reception Of
Simultaneous his book, when by
-A curious chain Of cir
0"6o6e1"' cumstances he be-
came entangled with two young ladies'.
Fraulein Anna Sibylla Munich and Frau