Schiller House »Götterfunken«

Schiller House »Götterfunken«

In the 18^th century, the village of Gohlis was a destination for day trips and a summer retreat for the people of Leipzig who appreciated relaxation in natural surroundings and loved intellectual exchange.

As a result, the then 25-year-old Friedrich Schiller also spent a carefree summer here in 1785. After a string of sorrows and worries, he found the friendship, appreciation and active support of kindred spirits in Gohlis. All of a sudden, the young poet’s dreary world was bathed in bright light: Here, the sense of elation at new prospects inspired him to write the song  »Ode to Joy« , one of his most famous works to this day.

In the exhibition you can learn more about the problems and zest for life of an ordinary young man, explore the history of his most famous work and find out why we owe this place of commemoration to one of the revolutionaries of 1848.

Follow us to Leipzig’s oldest preserved farmhouse, where – whether in the exhibition, while resting amid the rose bushes of the farm garden or during concerts and theatre performances in the charming rural ambience – these lines feel as true today as they were in Schiller’s time:

Gods can never be requited,
Beauteous ‘tis, their like to be.
Grief and want shall be reported
So to cheer with gaiety.