Schiller's garden house
Schiller garden house is one of only two surviving homes of Friedrich Schiller in Jena , where he lived with his family in the summers from 1797 to 1799. (The other is the house on Zwatzengasse.) Some of his most important works, such as parts of Wallenstein and Maria Stuart , as well as numerous ballads, were created here. In 1799 Schiller moved with his family to Weimar , but did not finally give up the Jena garden house until 1801. Today the house is owned by the Friedrich Schiller University , which maintains a museum and a discourse space with numerous types of events.
The house and Schiller's living situation
Schiller acquired the house built around the middle of the 18th century in today's Schillergäßchen 2 in Jena in March 1797 for 1050 thalers as a second home and garden house. At that time it was just outside the city gates, with a view of the Leutra stream and numerous forest and garden areas. Schiller, who taught as a history professor at the university, used various Jena rental apartments in the city center as his main residence, none of which have been preserved with their furnishings. The building in Zwatzengasse is used by the university today. This means that Schiller's garden house is the only one from his time in Jena that can be visited, the longest that he spent in one place (1789–1799).
Schiller lived in his summer house with his wife Charlotte , their two small sons and three servants during the summer months from 1797 to 1799. His family and numerous friends, especially Goethe, had advised him to buy this to cure his ailing health in the fresh air. “ I had to take this means of buying my own house and garden, because otherwise I see no way of getting used to the open air that is so necessary for me. “However, he had to finance the purchase with a loan, and he also carried out some of the numerous renovations himself.
The use
On the ground floor, a veranda and a children's room with an adjoining maids' room were set up. The children, Carl and his younger brother Ernst, could look directly into the garden from this room. On the first floor, Charlotte Schiller set up a small salon where visitors were received. Her bedchamber was behind the drawing room, allegedly she did not share it with her husband, because he used to get up in the middle of the night if he had an idea. On the second floor, Schiller set up a study with a library. The desk was aligned so that one looked into the green garden. Schiller found peace and quiet for his work in the study, because the children were on the ground floor or in the garden, and his wife mostly in the drawing room. Schiller's bed was in a small chamber behind the study.
The kitchen was moved out of the house to the northwest corner of the garden, as Schiller didn't like kitchen smells in the house. However, the associated construction work caused noise for a long time and disrupted his work.
The garden pinnacle
In 1798, Schiller had a turret built in the extreme southwest corner of the garden. There was a bathroom in the lower area and a small study for the poet on the first floor. There he had peace for work and a wonderful view of the surroundings of Jena. Goethe called the tower Schiller's garden pinnacle because it stood like a pinnacle on the wall. Plenty of fruit, vegetables, herbs and flowers grew around the pinnacle in the garden, especially asparagus, potatoes and Swiss chard. Under a pergola there is still a large round stone table, at which Schiller sat with numerous guests, above all Goethe, and enjoyed the summer. Goethe was later to say about this place: “ In this arbor we often sat at this old stone table and exchanged many good and big words ” (1827 to Eckermann).
Created works and visitors
Some of Schiller's most important works were created in the study and in the garden pinnacle, above all large parts of Wallenstein and the beginning of Maria Stuart . Numerous ballads were also written here, and - during a renewed stay in the summer of 1801 - also parts of the Maid of Orleans .
Numerous prominent personalities from Jena and all of Germany were guests in the house: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe , Friedrich Wilhelm Schelling , Caroline von Humboldt , Friedrich Hölderlin's lover Susette Gontard, Sophie Brentano ( Bettina Brentano's sister ), the publisher Johann Friedrich Cotta , as did Johann Gottlieb Fichte and the philosophy professor Friedrich Immanuel Niethammer .
The move and sale
In December 1799, Schiller and his family moved to Weimar, but did not give up the Jena garden house yet. He initially leased it and the property, but then sold it to the lawyer Thibaut in 1802.
The garden house today: museum and discourse
The garden house now belongs to the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena . The museum and an exhibition on Schiller's Jena years and his life in the garden house are located on the lower and second floors of the house. The two upper floors are modeled after the original apartment. Charlotte's drawing room and bedroom are on the first floor. On the second floor the visitor will find Schiller's study, his bedroom and a small room for the servant Gottlieb Rudolf. Some of Schiller's real furnishings have also survived. The property was reconstructed according to a historical garden plan that Schiller once received as a gift from a mathematics student.
The location has changed a lot compared to Schiller's time, the house and garden are now in the center of the city, the formerly green hills and meadows beyond the garden have been built up, and a main road leads directly along the wall, directly above the piped Leutra stream . The old university observatory, the Urania public observatory and the Jena theater (in Schillergäßchen 1) are in the immediate vicinity .
Today the garden house serves as a place for reflection on the university's identity, as a space for discussing research in the humanities by means of symposia, lectures and workshops, as an interface with the public and as a place for imparting knowledge and cultural education for broad groups. Since 2014, the series "The Favor of the Moment" has regularly invited important contemporary poets and storytellers to the garden house in order to bring them to a fruitful examination of the classical tradition of Schiller and Goethe. Since 2016, the Thuringian text workshop "Poetry and Practice" in the garden house has given young authors the opportunity to discuss and edit their texts with renowned authors and scholars. In addition, there are numerous lectures, lecture series and discussion evenings on the topicality of philosophy and poetry of the Goethe era and on the culture of modernity, but also on current social, aesthetic, political, philosophical or social issues. Important lectures are regularly published in the in-house publication series.
Parking for cars is in front of the theater and to the west in front of the Schillergarten.
Web links
- Schiller's garden house of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena
Individual evidence
- ↑ SCHILLER'S GARDEN HOUSE. Retrieved March 10, 2017 .
- ↑ The Favor of the Moment. Retrieved March 10, 2017 .
- ↑ Call for proposals POETRY & PRACTICE. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on March 12, 2017 ; accessed on March 10, 2017 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Publications. Retrieved March 10, 2017 .
Coordinates: 50 ° 55 ′ 33 ″ N , 11 ° 35 ′ 0 ″ E