The expectations at their birth were high. However, their illustrious lineage brought Walther, Wolfgang, and Alma, the children of Goethe's son August and his wife Ottilie, not only happiness. Dagmar von Gersdorff traces the life paths of the grandchildren for the first time, through whose wise decisions Goethe's house and its collections have been preserved to this day. The marriage of their parents was not happy: the solid, phlegmatic August von Goethe and the capricious, demanding Ottilie were not suited for each other. The children experienced their mother's erotic escapades and their father's alcoholism up close. Yet, they spent a happy time in their grandfather's house. Goethe dedicated all his attention to them. They came into his study, sitting at the table with famous guests. Goethe was a tender grandfather with a genuine pedagogical interest; through his imaginative...