Goethe at 28

Goethe's drawing of Kochberg, 1779

Goethe was often on the road, traveling by horse, on official duties. On August 27, 1777, he set out from Weimar and overnighted at Kochberg, the von Stein estate. His diary reports: "Langsam ritt ich nach Kbg. fand sie froh und ruhig und mir wars so frey und wohl noch den Abend." This was in the early Weimar years, when Goethe was seeking to conquer the affections of Charlotte von Stein, and Kochberg exerted a strong attraction. According to Wolfgang Vulpius (Goethe in Thüringen), whenever Goethe could free himself from official duties, he hurried to Kochberg. Letters reveal that he was a favorite with her children and even her servants. For the most part, his diary does not reveal "ungetrübtes Glück an der Seite der Herrin von Kochberg," while his letters to her often reveal instead that he left Kochberg deeply disappointed and unhappy. In fact, he wrote the following note to her on August 27: "Meine Verständnisse sind dunckel, nur ist mir ziemlich klar dass ich Sie liebe."

Still, things must have gone well between him and Charlotte. The next day was his twenty-eighth birthday, and it was a good day. As he wrote in his diary: "wachte an m. Geburtstag mit der schönen sonne so heiter auf dass ich alles was vor mir liegt leichter ansah." In his note to her that morning, he wrote: "Morgen d. 28 meinen Geburtstag dencken Sie an mich! Noch einmal Adieu. Es ist doch in der Welt immer Abschiednehmen. ... Ich bin oft bey Ihnen." And then he was on his way to meet the duke in Ilmenau.

The last time Goethe was at Kochberg was on September 5, 1788, after his return from Italy. He was accompanied by Karoline Herder, Sophie von Schardt, and Charlotte's sixteen-year-old son, Fritz.  Herder's wife reported a chilly reception. No doubt Charlotte was disappointed in Goethe for bringing others with him. As Vulpius writes: company made impossible a face-to-face private conversation. In any case, the relationship was not to be restored. Charlotte had accused him with bitterness of unfaithfulness, a reproach he felt unfounded. And so, according to Vulpius, "Die Saite, der Goethe so zauberhafte Töne entlockt hatte, war zerrissen und verstummt." (The string from which Goethe had elicited such magical tones was torn and became silent.)

Goethe in July 1777

The "Goethe Room" at Schloss Kochberg

In July 1777 a month after receiving the news of Cornelia’s death, Goethe made a number of escapes from Weimar, some lasting only a day or two, including to Kochberg, estate of the von Stein family (who at the time were not in residence, but at a spa). As Nicholas Boyle writes, Goethe’s response that summer to his bereavement was “an almost manic wildness.” Sometimes he traveled alone, at times with members of the court.

On July 4, Goethe went to Dornburg with the Duke and Duchess Luise and Karl Theodor von Dalberg, where they sketched and, not having made overnight reservations, they ended up sleeping on straw palliates in unfurnished rooms of one of the small castles. Goethes diary entry: Nachts auf der Streue mit d. Herzog, Prinzen, Dalberg u 2 Einsiedels. The next morning they set off fireworks (Canonen gelöst), then returning to Weimar and arriving at midday. Goethe turned around and went to Kochberg (um 5 nach Kochberg geritten). He was back in Weimar on the 7th (In dunckler Unruhe früh). On the 8th he was in Tiefurt, joining the Duke and Prince Constantin where, as Boyle writes, they stayed up “half the night” and spent the following morning as well “talking, drinking, drawing silhouettes, and reading from his manuscript of Wilhelm Meister.” On the 11th he actually walked to Kochberg (Nachmitt. halb 5 zu Fus nach Kochberg kam halb 10 an). What oh what was going on in Goethe's head during those hours? The next day, July 12, was spent drawing.

Goethe seems to have been something like a member of the Stein family, spending a lot of time with Stein children, as on the visit he made on foot. He wrote to Charlotte concerning the July 12 visit (as always, go to Google Translate if necessary):

Mir ist's diese Woche in der Stadt wieder sehr wunderlich gegangen, ich habe mich gestern heraus geflüchtet, bin um half sechs zu Fuß von Weimar abmarschiert und war halbzehn hier, da alles schon verschlossen war und sich zum Bett gehn bereitete. Da ich rief, ward ich von der alten Dorothee zuerst erkannt und mit großem Geschrei von ihr und der Köchin bewillkommt. Kästner kam auch mit seinem Pfeifgen herab, und Karl, der den ganzen Tag behauptet hatte, ich würde kommen; Ernst, der schon im Hemde stand, zog sich wieder an, Fritz lag schon im Schlafe. Ich trank noch viel Selzerwasser, wir erzählten einander unsre Wochenfata, die Zeichnungen wurden produziert ...

The rest of his diary for July 1777 records frequent excursions to Kochberg, Tiefurt, and Ettersburg.

Boyle writes interestingly about the “ineluctable social facts” of Weimar at this time: “not much happened there, apart from the administration of the duchy.” The theater was one escape, a “transient” one into “aesthetic illusion, ... but Goethe was realist enough to know that inches behind the backcloth stood a blank wall.”

The lovely illustration at the top of this post is among a number of drawings of Kochberg by Editha Drawert (1887-1947) that can be found on the Goethezeitportal. According to the caption there, at the left is Charlotte's "old desk," which Goethe used when in Kochberg; the one of the right is the "new" one, a present to him from Charlotte.