Dr Gregor H. Lersch, Director of the Casa di Goethe in Rome, gives two lectures in Germany. Both events explore Goethe’s artistic milieu in Rome and trace the development of German artists’ stays in the Eternal City – from Goethe’s Italian Journey to the German Academy Rome Villa Massimo. The second lecture will take place as part of the festival “Wo die Citronen glüh’n – Villa Massimo zu Gast in Weimar”.
Goethe’s Italian Journey (1786–1788) is often regarded as the quintessential journey of artistic and intellectual self-discovery. This lecture focuses on the artistic community in which Goethe immersed himself during his stay in Rome. In close exchange with painters, sculptors and writers, he studied classical antiquity, practised drawing and engaged in lively discussions on art and aesthetics. Rome thus became a place of shared artistic practice and mutual inspiration.
The lecture also examines how these artistic networks gradually developed into lasting institutions that played a decisive role in shaping German art in Rome throughout the nineteenth century – from the German Artists’ Association in Rome and the artists’ circles of Villa Malta and Villa Strohl-Fern to the German Academy Rome Villa Massimo.
The second lecture forms part of the festival “Villa Massimo zu Gast in Weimar – Festival of the Rome Prize Fellows 2024/25/26: Wo die Citronen glüh’n“.
Beginning with Goethe’s Roman sojourn, Gregor H. Lersch traces the history of German artists’ stays in Rome, highlighting the city’s enduring role as a place of artistic inspiration, intellectual exchange and international encounter. The lecture explores the continuity of a tradition that stretches from Goethe’s time to the German Academy Rome Villa Massimo.
Foto: Gustav Eberlein, Monumento a Goethe, Roma, Villa Borghese, 1904, CC
On April 29th, we opened the new exhibition NEWTON | GOETHE | GALILEO Reflections by Mischa Kuball. A big thank you to the large audience for their keen interest in the light installations. Through reflections and refractions, these works interpret two important chapters in the history of science and suggest new perspectives: “luce nera” was created as a site-specific installation for the museum, whilst “five suns / after Galileo” is on loan from the Monika Schnetkamp Collection in Düsseldorf.
The exhibition can be seen at the Casa di Goethe from 30 April to 4 October. We look forward to seeing you!
A collaboration between the Casa di Goethe, Rome, and KAI 10 | ARTHENA FOUNDATION, Düsseldorf.
Credit of all images: ©
Credit of all images: © Andrea Veneri
Numerous guests attended the opening of the new temporary exhibition, Art Histories, which presents works that have been added to the Casa di Goethe Museum collection in recent years. Many “art histories” were told during the evening by Gregor H. Lersch, Andreas Krüger from the Cultural Office of the German Embassy in Rome, Konrad Heumann from the Freies Deutsches Hochstift and member of the ASKI board, and Claudia Nordhoff, research assistant at the Casa di Goethe.
The exhibition remains open until 12 April 2026.
Here are some impressions of the event.
On Friday, 23 January 2026, the Minister of State for Culture and Media, Wolfram Weimer, and the Italian Minister of Culture, Alessandro Giuli, visited Casa di Goethe in Rome as part of the German-Italian government consultations.
After a guided tour of the museum, Wolfram Weimer and Gregor H. Lersch, Director of the Casa di Goethe, presented the new German-Italian cooperation project Auf den Spuren von Goethes Italienischer Reise (In the Footsteps of Goethe’s Italian Journey). Minister of State Weimer said: ‘We are thus reviving the “Italian Journey” and creating a pilgrimage route in Goethe’s footsteps. In doing so, we are giving the Italiensehnsucht, the longing for Italy, a new source of inspiration.’
Gregor H. Lersch explained: “We are very pleased about the new initiative, which will further promote Goethe’s Italian Journey – the central theme of the Casa di Goethe – internationally. As a first step, we are currently developing a digital game in which Goethe’s route can be explored from different perspectives. In addition, an exhibition is planned for autumn 2026 in Rome, which will be dedicated, among other things, to the reception of Goethe in Italian art and literature, building a bridge from Goethe’s time to the present day.”
Early in the morning, the two ministers signed a memorandum of understanding for the cooperation project on Goethe’s Italian Journey and for the extension of the Mazzucchetti-Gschwend Translation Prize, which, in cooperation with the Literarisches Colloquium Berlin, the German Academy Rome Villa Massimo, the Goethe-Institut Italy and the Casa di Goethe, honours the work of translators as indispensable mediators between cultures.
Foto: © Andrea Veneri
An engaging evening full of new stories to be discovered with OTHER FORMS OF SENSING – 120 years of Villa Romana Florenz in which Casa di Goethe, on December 4th, 2025, has been transformed into an experimental space with site specific works, performances and installations. Special thanks to the artists fellows of Villa Romana Raul Walch, Sajan Mani, Chaveli Sifre, Elia Nurvista, and ot Elena Agudio and Mistura Allison, who, with the moderation of Gregor H. Lersch have given a deep insight into the life and history of Villa Romana.
In collaboration with Villa Romana, Florenz
Sponsored by Ernst von Siemens Kunststiftung
With the kind support of the German Academy Rome Villa Massimo
Photos: @ Andrea Veneri
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