Jean Paul Museum Joditz
The Upper Franconian poet Jean Paul, whose real name was Johann Paul Friedrich Richter, was born in Wunsiedel in 1763 and died in Bayreuth in 1825. In Joditz, his boyhood home, a museum is dedicated to him.
During his lifetime, Jean Paul was more successful than the great classics Goethe and Schiller. The female audience in particular devoured his works. In modern times, he is an insider tip for literary scholars. Jean Paul describes the small village of Joditz near Hof as his "spiritual birthplace"; he grew up there as the son of the priest. He spent eleven years of his life here. He remembers this time as poor and cramped, but at the same time as the happiest phase of his life, and in his "Self-Life Description" Joditz receives the longest chapter.
The museum is located in the former parish garden. There at the former location of the garden cottage a weaver's cottage was built in 1893. Here people, as well as the life and work of the poet are documented: in the lower wing and in the barn the childhood years of the poet in the parsonage with agriculture, in the upper floor the life of the successful author with all his quirks and his love for beer.
You can find out more about Jean Paul in Hof and the hiking trail named after him here.
