In 1910 the director of the Goethe National Museum, Prof. Dr. Wolfgang von Oettingen, established the “Association of Friends of the Goethe House in Weimar” . The goal was to financially support the work of the museum, “to preserve the collection, purchase items for the collections of Goethe portraits, Goethe illustrations and relics, enable larger building expansions in the interest of the museum, and to accumulate a capital base, from which the accrued interest can be used by the management to pay for assistants.” The response was overwhelming and financially rewarding. The establishment of the association was a windfall for Weimar.
This rich tradition is cultivated today by the Association of Friends of the Goethe National Museum (Freundeskreis des Goethe-Nationalmuseums e.V.), founded in 1982 and registered as a non-profit organisation since 1990. The group has now grown to more than 450 members from Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, France and the United States. The association regularly organises lectures, discussions and excursions which highlight the life and works of Goethe and his contemporaries. Depending on its financial means, the association supports conservation measures, purchases acquisitions, finances exhibitions and publications, and much more.
Visit the website of the Freundeskreis des Goethe-Nationalmuseums.
Contact
Freundeskreis Goethe-Nationalmuseum e.V.
Dieter Höhnl
Frauenplan 1
99423 Weimar
freundeskreis@goethe-weimar.de
