German Literary and Religious History (June 19th)

"To think is easy. To act is hard. But the hardest thing in the world is to act in accordance with your thinking" ~ Goethe

One of Germany's most beloved historical/literary figures is Johann Wolfgang Goethe. I had the opportunity to see where he lived and worked for most of his life. Yesterday I saw the pub where Goethe spent a lot of his time and wrote. Let me start by saying that Goethe was a brilliant man. He had many many interests ranging from history, politics, science etc... Goethe is well known for having written the Sorrows of Young Werther, and Faust.  I do not know much about Goethe yet, but I plan to change that. If I decide to focus on Germanic Romanticism, this guy is going to the at the top of the list.

I had the opportunity to explore Goethe's home and museum. The museum part explained the various aspects of Goethe's lives with a variety of artifacts. His house was something that I would love to live in one day. He had a sweet library and study space, a cozy home, and the house was a museum. The house was not made into a museum, but Goethe was a major collector and he took pride in displaying what treasures he possessed. I want my house to be something that displays a variety of antiques. Goethe was fascinated by Greek and Roman mythology, therefore his house had many Greek and Roman statues and art. For those architecture history people, his home was one of the first examples of a type of skyway connection the parts of the house together.

Goethe designed his house around a main stair case modeled after Greek Temples. The stairs had shallow steps and were meant to be enjoyed. 

I think drove the family to Wartburg Castle. I drove between 160-180 km/hour. That is over 100 miles/hour. It was so much fun. We missed the only English tour of the day by mere minutes. It was really too bad. This meant that we took the tour in German, which meant that I understood very little. Probably the coolest thing we saw on the tour was the concert hall. This concert hall was designed by Franz Liszt for its acoustic properties. They still hold concerts in this hall.  Wartburg is also the place where Martin Luther translated the Bible into the vernacular.

Wartburg Castle

Wartburg Castle

Wartburg Castle

This room was entirely made of mosaics. It was spectacular. Fit for a king...which it was. 

Concert Hall

This is the room where Martin Luther translated the Bible. However the things in the room are not original.

Goethe Quotes:

"Whatever you can do or dream, you can begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it"

"Daring ideas are like chessmen moved forward. They may be beaten, but they may start a winning game"

"Know thyself? If I knew myself, I'd run away"

"By seeking and blundering, we learn"

"Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least"

"The greatest thing in this world is not so much where we stand as in what direction we are moving"

"We are our own devils; we drive ourselves out of our edens"

"If you don't feel it, you'll never get it"

"Dream no small dreams for they have no power to move the hearts of men"