The famous Goethe had been planning to visit Prague for several years. It was for him not only a place of literary inspiration but also the capital of the country where his last love, the beautiful and educated philanthropist Ulrika von Levetzow, lived. As a 72-year-old gentleman, he proposed to the then 19-year-old Ulrika. However, after a bitter refusal, he cancelled his last planned trip to Bohemia and did not visit Prague again. If he were lucky enough to do so today, he would certainly not have missed Faust’s house or the amazing collection of minerals in the original showcases of the National Museum. Its foundations were laid by Count Sternberk, Goethe’s frequent correspondent. Goethe’s first encounter with Prague was purely literary, through the legends of the ambitious alchemist Johann Georg Faust, who gave his soul to the devil. Goethe had Faust flown to Prague on a magical steed. Faust’s house on Charles Square is connected with the alchemist’s turbulent life. Quite understandably, for this baroque palace belonged to several alchemists, including Edward Kelley, and some oddballs even collected tombstones and pieces of gallows here. To this day, Faust’s house still hides mysterious murals and a hole in the ceiling of the staircase was found big enough for a grown man to fly through. That’s why it’s associated with the Faust legend. Goethe was very fond of Bohemia and visited it seventeen times. During his visits he met many Pragueers and liked to order books and wine from Prague. Perhaps the closest he came to a trip to Prague was in 1813, when he was asked to play at the Estates Theatre in Prague, one of the oldest theatres in Europe, which has been in continuous theatrical operation since 1783, and where Mozart’s “opera opera” Don Giovanni premiered on 29 October 1787. As a renowned geologist, Goethe corresponded frequently with Count Sternberg, the founder of the National Museum. Sternberg’s co-founder of the National Museum in Prague was the stepfather of Ulrika von Levetzow, with whom Goethe fell in love in Mariánské Lázně. Ulrika, however, did not return his love and rejected him. This was probably the reason why he was reluctant to come to Prague. Ulrika’s set of jewels made of Bohemian garnets is now a European unique in the museum in Most, and although she inherited it from her mother, it was long said that Goethe himself gave it to her as a token of his love. What the controversial writer actually gave Ulrika, however, was an Art Nouveau fan. We know from Goethe’s diary that he repeatedly planned his visits to Prague: he read guidebooks, studied maps, familiarised himself with Prague’s history and was able to converse insightfully about Prague’s realities. Nevertheless, the great German poet missed Prague in the end. But not Prague with him. You can find the poet’s name in the Goethe-Institut by Prague’s charming embankments or in Goethe Street lining Stromovka, one of Prague’s most beautiful parks, which is and always has been a haven for romantic love. Here, happy couples hold hands, new generations of young Werthers hide their sorrows in secluded corners, and old poets dream their last Goethean dreams on benches in the early evening sun.