Fascinating picture: “Goethe has never been here”.

Sometimes you get somewhere and then suddenly you see a picture that raises huge questions in me. That's what I had with the image I put on the picture below. I know who Goethe is, and I know what a leprechaun is, but I can't see the link between those two. But well the question marks have to be answered and so I made a picture.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) was a famous German writer. He is known as the author of influential novels such as Die Leiden des jungen Werthers (1774), Faust (two volumes, 1808 & 1832) and the book Zur Farbenlehre (1810). But the German Goethe had more to offer than just fine literature. He was also a philosopher, scientist and politician. As a thinker he was known for his carpe diem lifestyle: 'Pick the day! ' (1)

A leprechaun is a mythological creature. This figure is found in numerous fairy tales (and other folk tales) scattered around the world. (2)

In my search I discovered that apartments are rented in Germany under the name “Her war Goethe nie!” that present themselves as design or boutique apartments. Nice to know, but I still can't make the link. Also I see that you can buy these tin plates or shields so they are not exclusively made for the apartments and I see pictures of people who have made shields/boards themselves with this text.

I also come across some quotes from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe that have to do with travel: Man reizen ja nicht um anzukommen, sondern um zu reisen. (You do not travel to arrive, you travel to travel.), Die beste Bildung findet ein gescheiter Mensch auf Reisen. (A smart person finds the best training while traveling.), Jeder muss wissen, worauf er bei einer Reise zu sehen hat und was seine Sache ist. (Everyone needs to know what to look for during a trip and what his or her business is.) The Reise Gleicht einem Spiel; is always Gewinn and Verlust dabei and meist from the unerwarteten Seite. (The journey is like a game; there is always profit and loss, and mostly from the unexpected.) (3)