Schloss & Park Kochberg

Description

The former country estate of the von Stein family, located approximately 30 km south of Weimar, gained fame through Goethe´s love for Charlotte von Stein and his frequent visits between 1775 and 1788. The manor is almost completely preserved with a palace, park, nursery, patronage church, surrounding farm buildings, and a freestanding theater.

The water castle was built around 1600 in the Renaissance style. In 1733, Kochberg became the property of the barons of Stein, who used it as a country residence and had some renovations carried out. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, Charlotte von Stein and her eldest son Carl turned Schloss Kochberg into a cultural and social center. The museum in the castle commemorates Goethe´s visits to his closest friend and confidante of the early Weimar years. In the room where he is said to have stayed during his visits to Kochberg, the most valuable piece of furniture, the writing cabinet, can be admired, on which the poet noted some dates of his visits in ink. Other rooms with furniture and art objects from the original inventory of the castle bring the interior of the Goethe era to life. Additionally, portraits about the von Stein family history, drawings by Goethe´s hand, and handwritten testimonies reveal the significance of the place. On the ground floor, there is an exhibition on the history of the castle and the manor, as well as on the amateur theater.