While the controversy over Werther continued, Goethe was invited to Weimar by the young Duke Carl August, whose interest had been aroused by the book. Goethe’s arrival at the capital of Saxe-Weimar marked a new chapter in his life as well as in the cultural history of Germany. A room in the museum has been reserved for the 11 eventful years Goethe spent in Weimar before his Italian journey.

In this room a showcase devoted to the Dowager Duchess Anna Amalia and her “Musenhof” (Court of the Muses) tells of the early cultural activities in Weimar which were based on the initiatives of the Duchess. A large portrait of her by Tischbein occupies a central position in the room. Opposite the portrait of Anna Amalia stands a bust of her son Carl August by the courtsculptor Gottlieb Martin Klauer. It shows Carl August at the age of 18, who was eight years older than Goethe, to be his guest. Pictures on the walls give an impression of the 18th-century Weimar, which at that time had a population of seven thousand. Goethe was to share the responsibility for its administration less than a year after his arrival. The first months, however, were rather boisterous as is reported in one of Goethe’s earliest letters from Weimar, which the visitor can see together with other documents of this period, including some drawings by Goethe. But in that same letter Goethe also predicted that he would soon play his part in the “theatrum mundi”.