House of Frau von Stein
About This Site
Charlotte von Stein lived here for fifty years, until her death in 1827 — the city calls her Goethe's friend and close confidante, which is the whole of what the plaque-writers have ever agreed on. It is a private building and not a museum.
Stables on the ground floor, until 1794
Until 1794 the ground floor held cavalry stables; they were then converted into reception rooms — her husband Josias von Stein was the duke's master of the horse. The most documented friendship of the German classical period was conducted upstairs from the horses, in a working household attached to a court office — not in a salon built for the purpose.
Fifty years, and no museum, 1827–2008
Fifty years in one house is longer than Goethe spent on the Frauenplan, and the correspondence that made her famous was written from these rooms. It is a private residence today — the city records only that it was bought in 2008 by a Spanish investor. It is on the walk between the classical addresses, and knowing what it is changes the walk.
Questions visitors ask
- Who was Charlotte von Stein?
- Goethe's friend and close confidante, the city calls her — she lived in this house for fifty years, until her death in 1827, and the correspondence between them that made her famous was written from these rooms.
- What was on the ground floor?
- Cavalry stables, until 1794 — her husband Josias von Stein was the duke's master of the horse, so the household sat directly above a working court office.
- Can I visit the house?
- No — it is a private residence, not open to the public. It sits on the walk between Weimar's classical addresses, and can only be seen from outside.
- Who owns it now?
- The city records that it was bought by a Spanish investor in 2008 and is a private residence.
Connected Historical Figures
lady-in-waiting • author
Her house in town, where she lived for fifty years until her death — above what had been the cavalry stables.
writer • statesman • naturalist
The city names her as his friend and close confidante; the correspondence between them was written from this house.
Visit Information
Not open to visitors
Private building; not open to the public
Weimar
In Weimar's history
Historical periods
The period's most documented friendship, conducted in a private household above a stable.
For roughly sixty years a duchy of a few thousand people held the centre of German literature, because its ruler kept inviting writers to live there and then gave them jobs. That is the whole mechanism, and it ran from Goethe's arrival in 1775 to his death in 1832.