Goethe’s play Götz von Berlichingen, the work which first established his reputation, was originally written in 1771 and was published after major revisions in 1773. Among other items pertaining to Götz von Berlichingen, the museum exhibits a copy of some scenes from Goethe’s own hand. For the last time, the continuity of Goethe’s years in Frankfurt was interrupted in 1772 by the poet’s stay in Wetzlar, where he worked at the “Reichskammergericht” (imperial law courts).

To this stay, we owe the novel Die Leiden des jungen Werthers (The Sorrows of Werther), published in 1774. Werther was the work which made him famous not only in Germany but also throughout Europe. This novel has therefore been given its own room which contains the first edition and the jubilee edition of 1824, with Goethe’s own dedication to Frau von Stein. The room also contains portraits of and manuscripts by the historical figures on whom the characters were modelled. Letters and pamphlets praising or condemning the novel throw light on the heated discussion which it triggered.

The manuscript of Lenz’s defence of the novel, “Über die Moralität der Leiden des jungen Werther” (On the Morality of the Sorrows of Young Werther) is of special importance in this context. An idea of the stirring effect, which this sentimental romance had on the minds of contemporaries is conveyed by other objects in the room such as a decorative cup with Lotte’s and Werther’s portraits, which a Werther enthusiast had made to order at Meissen, and the numerous illustrations of the novel lining the walls.