Goethe-Denkmal, Bronze monument at Goetheplatz, Frankfurt, Germany.

The Goethe Monument is a 6.90-metre bronze statue of the poet standing on his left leg, his right foot slightly forward, leaning against a laurel-wreathed tree stump. He wears a jacket buttoned on the left side and a toga-like mantle, holding a laurel wreath in his left hand and a scroll in his right. The cubic base bears bronze reliefs of scenes from his works, including Iphigenia and Orestes before King Thoas, Faust with Mephisto, and Hermann and Dorothea.

Frankfurt citizens began fundraising for a Goethe monument in 1839, after Stuttgart unveiled its Schiller memorial. Ludwig Schwanthaler designed the bronze figure, cast in Munich under Johann Baptist Stiglmair, who died hours after the casting. The statue arrived in Frankfurt on 19 October 1844 and was unveiled on 22 October on what became Goetheplatz.

The bronze reliefs on the base show scenes from Goethe's works: Iphigenia and Orestes before King Thoas, Faust with Mephisto in his study, Hermann and Dorothea, and Mignon with Wilhelm and the Harper. On the back, a winged genius crowns figures including Götz, Egmont, Tasso, Prometheus, the Erlking and the couple from the West-Eastern Divan.

The monument sits in a public square at the heart of the city and is accessible from several directions. You can easily find it on foot since it sits at a major intersection, and all sides of the plaza offer good views of the statue.

During World War II bombing raids in 1944, Frankfurt residents buried the damaged statue to protect it from metal scrappers. This action saved the sculpture from destruction and reveals the community's deep connection to this monument.