The Lottehaus is a museum in

Wetzlar Wetzlar () is a city in the state of Hesse, Germany. It is the twelfth largest city in Hesse with currently 55,371 inhabitants at the beginning of 2019 (including second homes). As an important cultural, industrial and commercial center, the un ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. It was the birthplace of

Charlotte Buff Charlotte Buff (11 January 1753, Wetzlar – 16 January 1828, Hanover) was a youthful acquaintance of the poet Goethe, who fell in love with her. She rejected him and instead married Johann Christian Kestner, vice-archivist and privy councillor ...

, who lived there for the first 20 years of her life until she got married. The Lottehaus was originally an establishment of the

Teutonic Order The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...

, which founded it in 1285 under the name ''Haus Wetzlar'' as its principal office in the city of Wetzlar. Over the years the establishment was extended by several buildings and the actual Lottehaus was constructed in 1653 to house the local curator of the order. Heinrich Adam Buff moved into the Lottehaus in 1740, when he started his work as curator for the order. His daughter Charlotte, after who the house is named today, was born in it on 11 January 1753 and to lived there for the first 20 years of her until she got married in 1773. After Charlotte had become famous for being the inspiration for

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as trea ...

's novel '' The Sorrows of Young Werther'' the citizens of Wetzlar decided in 1863 to use the house as a memorial for her.''Lottehaus''
– information on the ''Lottehaus'' at the website of the city of Wetzlar (German, retrieved 2018-02-10) Today the Lottehaus is a part of the museums of the city of Wetzlar and contains a permanent exhibition. On display are furniture and various items illustrating life in the 18th century, some of which originally belonged to the Buff family. There are also three rooms devoted to the work of Goethe and in particular to the contemporary reception of his novel ''The Sorrows of Young Werther''. Another museum in Wetzlar containing material related to Goethe and Werther as well is the

Jerusalemhaus The Jerusalemhaus is a house museum at Schillerplatz 5 in Wetzlar, Germany. On October 30, 1772, the Braunschweig legation secretary Karl Wilhelm Jerusalem shot himself here in a two-room apartment on the second floor. Goethe, who knew him pers ...

External links

''Lottehaus''
– information on the ''Lottehaus'' at the website of the city of Wetzlar (German)
'' Lottestraße 8–10''
DenkXweb, online edition of ''Kulturdenkmäler in Hessen'' (German)

References

{{authority control Historic house museums in Germany Literary museums in Germany Museums in Wetzlar