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= Schiller's garden house =

Schiller’s garden house is one of only two surviving residences of Friedrich Schiller in Jena, where he lived with his family during the summers of 1797 to 1799. (The other is the house on Zwätzengasse.) It was here that he wrote some of his most important works, such as parts of Wallenstein and Maria Stuart, as well as numerous ballads. 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 venue with numerous forms of events here.

Contents

 * 1. The house and Schiller's living situation
 * 2. Usage
 * 3. The garden pinnacle
 * 4. Works created and visitors
 * 5. The move away and sale
 * 6. The garden house today: museum and place of discourse
 * 7. External links
 * 8. References

The house and Schiller's living situation
Schiller's garden house with the garden in front of it seen from the garden battlement

Schiller acquired the house, built around the middle of the 18th century, in what is now Schillergäßchen 2 in Jena in March 1797 for 1050 thalers as a second home and garden house. At the time, it was located just outside the city gates, overlooking the Leutra stream and numerous woods and gardens. As his main residence, Schiller, who taught at the university as a history professor, used various Jena tenements in the city center, but none of them have been preserved with their furnishings. The building in Zwätzengasse is now used by the university. Thus, Schiller's garden house is the only residence from his Jena period that can be visited, the longest he spent in one place (1789-1799).

Schiller lived in his garden house with his wife Charlotte, their two young sons and three servants during the summer months of 1797 to 1799. His family and numerous friends, especially Goethe, had advised him to make this purchase in order to cure his failing health in the fresh air. "I had to take this means to buy my own house and garden, because otherwise I see no possibility at all to get used to the free air, which is so necessary for me." However, he had to finance the purchase through a loan, and he also carried out some of the numerous remodeling works himself.

Usage
On the first floor, a veranda and a children's room with an adjoining maid's chamber were set up. The children, Carl and his younger brother Ernst, could look directly into the garden from this room. On the second floor, Charlotte Schiller set up a small salon where visitors were received. Behind the salon was her bed chamber, which she supposedly did not share with her husband because he used to get up in the middle of the night when an idea came to him. On the second floor, Schiller set up a study with a library. The writing desk was oriented to look into the green garden. In the study Schiller found peace for his work, because the children stayed on the first floor or in the garden, and his wife mostly in the salon. 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, since Schiller did not like kitchen smells in the house. The associated construction work, however, caused noise for a long time and severely disturbed his work.

The garden pinnacle
In the far southwest corner of the garden, Schiller had a turret built in 1798. In the lower part there was a bathroom and on the second floor there was a small study for the poet. There he had peace and quiet to work and a magnificent view of the surroundings of Jena. Goethe called the tower Schiller's garden pinnacle, because it stood like a battlement on the wall. Around the battlement, abundant fruit, vegetables, herbs and flowers flourished in the garden, especially asparagus, potatoes and chard. Under a pergola stands to this day a large round stone table where Schiller sat with numerous guests, most notably Goethe, enjoying the summer. Goethe was later to say about this place: "In this arbor we have often sat at this old stone table and exchanged many a good and great word with each other" (1827 to Eckermann).

Works created and visitors
Some of Schiller's most important works were written in the study and in the garden pinnacle, especially large parts of Wallenstein and the beginning of Mary Stuart. Numerous ballads were also written here, and - during another stay in the summer of 1801 - parts of The Maid of Orleans.

The house also hosted numerous important personalities from Jena and all over Germany: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Friedrich Wilhelm Schelling, Caroline von Humboldt, the naturalist Alexander von Humboldt, Friedrich Hölderlin's mistress Susette Gontard, Sophie Brentano (Bettina Brentano's sister), the publisher Johann Friedrich Cotta, as well as Johann Gottlieb Fichte and the philosophy professor Friedrich Immanuel Niethammer.

The move away and sale
In December 1799, Schiller moved with his family to Weimar, but did not yet give up the Jena garden house. He initially leased it together with the property, but then sold it in 1802 to the lawyer Anton Friedrich Justus Thibaut.

The Garden House Today: Museum and Place of discourse
Today, the Garden House belongs to the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena. The lower and second floors of the house house the museum and an exhibition on Schiller's Jena years as well as his life in the garden house. The two upper floors are faithful reproductions of the apartment of the time. On the second floor is Charlotte's salon and her bedchamber. On the second floor, the visitor finds Schiller's study, his bedchamber and a small room for the servant Gottlieb Rudolf. Some of Schiller's real furnishings are also still preserved. The property was reconstructed according to a historical garden plan that Schiller had once received as a gift from a student of mathematics.

The location has changed a lot compared to Schiller's time, the house and garden are now in the center of the city, the once green hills and meadows beyond the garden are built up, and a main road runs directly along the wall, directly above the piped stream Leutra. Today, the old university observatory, the Urania public observatory, and the Jena Theaterhaus (at Schillergäßchen 1) are located in the immediate vicinity.

Today, the Gartenhaus serves as a place of reflection on university identity, as a discussion space for research in the humanities by means of symposia, lectures, and workshops, as an interface with the public, and as a place of knowledge transfer and cultural education for broad sections of society. Since 2014, the series "Die Gunst des Augenblicks" (The Favor of the Moment) has regularly invited important contemporary lyricists and storytellers to the Gartenhaus in order to bring them into fruitful discussion with the classical tradition of Schiller and Goethe. Since 2016, the Thuringian Text Workshop "Poetry and Practice" at the Gartenhaus has offered young authors the opportunity to discuss and edit their texts with renowned authors and scholars. In addition, numerous lectures, lecture series, and discussion evenings are held on the topicality of the philosophy and poetry of the Goethe period or on the culture of modernity, but also on contemporary social, aesthetic, political, philosophical, or social issues. Important lectures are regularly published in the in-house publication series.

Parking for cars is available in front of the Theaterhaus and to the west in front of the Schillergarten.