“Graceful valley, you evergreen grove” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's poem to Carl August

Topic:           "'Graceful valley, thou evergreen grove' - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's poem to Carl-August"

Speaker:      Martin Strauch, deputy chairman of the Goethe Society Ilmenau-Stützerbach e. V.

Time:            Friday, September 26, 2025, 3:00 pm

Place:          TU Ilmenau, Faraday lecture hall, Weimarer Straße 32, access via Prof.-Schmidt-Straße

Admission:   5 Euro

When Johann Wolfgang von Goethe came to Ilmenau for the first time in May 1776, he wrote to Carl-August, Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach: "... the region is wonderful, wonderful!". The great poem "Ilmenau", written in September 1783 for the Duke's 26th birthday, describes this important time for Goethe in Ilmenau. The text is both a self-reflection by its author on his attachment to the town and the surrounding landscape, but also a serious warning to his brotherCarl-August not to waste his life and to face up to his responsibilities as ruling prince for the good of his country and people.

In his lecture at the TU Ilmenau Citizens' Campus, Martin Strauch, deputy chairman of the Goethe Society Ilmenau-Stützerbach, makes it clear that the great poet prince Goethe dedicated an anthem to a city and its entire region in his poem that no other city has. The places where he sets the story are given an everlasting sound by his poetic composition. Goethe himself considered the poem "Ilmenau" so important that he published it in his collection of works in 1817. Martin Strauch presents it with an emotional recitation accompanied by music.

Ursula Nirsberger
TU Ilmenau Citizens' Campus
+ 49 3677 69 4794
buergercampus@tu-ilmenau.de