Incontri al Corso 18 – Olivia Vieweg

Godless Pilgrimage – From Weimar to the Vatican

A Travel Graphic Novel by Olivia Vieweg

As part of the INCONTRI AL CORSO 18 series, Casa di Goethe’s current fellow, Olivia Vieweg, presents her ongoing research project. In conversation with Gregor H. Lersch and the audience, she offers insights into the current stage of her work, her research in Rome, and the development of her travel graphic novel Gottlos Pilgern – From Weimar to the Vatican.

During her residency at the Casa di Goethe, the comic artist and illustrator explores the religious and cultural spaces of Rome and the Vatican while continuing her research into Catholic pilgrimage sites in Germany and Italy. From the perspective of an atheist who grew up in former East Germany, she approaches a world initially unfamiliar to her, combining autobiographical experience with artistic research.

With humour, curiosity, and an open mind, Vieweg explores questions of faith, identity, tradition, and cultural encounter. Her graphic novel speaks to readers both with and without a religious background, inviting them to reconsider familiar perspectives and discover new ways of engaging with spirituality and pilgrimage culture.

Drawing on early illustrations, sketches, and travel journals, Olivia Vieweg reflects on the experiences and observations she has gathered during her time in Rome. In conversation with Gregor H. Lersch, Director of the Casa di Goethe, and the audience, she discusses her artistic research, creative process, and the questions that have shaped the project. The event offers a unique opportunity to follow the development of a graphic novel as a work of artistic research.

The event will be held in German.

Olivia Vieweg was born in Jena in 1987 and studied Graphic Design at the Bauhaus University Weimar. She completed her degree with her graphic novel Endzeit. She subsequently developed the project as a fellow at the Drehbuchwerkstatt München, where it received the Tankred Dorst Award for Best Screenplay. In 2018, Endzeit was adapted into a feature film by ZDF/arte, directed by Carolina Hellsgard, and premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. The New York Times praised both the film and the graphic novel of the same title, published by Carlsen.

In 2024, her work to date was honoured with a major exhibition at the International Comic Salon Erlangen. In the same year, her first young adult novel was published by Ueberreuter. In 2025, Vieweg took part in the workshop on East German perspectives initiated by Netflix and Producers of Germany e.V. (PROG). Through her work, she has long advocated for greater visibility of East German perspectives.

She lives with her family in Weimar. For Gottlos Pilgern, the travel comic she is developing during her residency at the Casa di Goethe, she has already been awarded the Literary Fellowship of the Free State of Thuringia.

With the generous support of the Karin and Uwe Hollweg Foundation