YEOJU, Gyeonggi Province — Chon Young-ae had been up writing since 4: 20 a.m. The professor emeritus at Seoul National University (SNU) is in the process of selecting and translating into Korean the entire works of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. The author of over 60 books has just finished a draft for a book on the gardens of Yeobaek House of Books and two Goethe houses.
By 11 a.m., the 73-year-old had given a lecture on Goethe’s botanics at the Young Goethe House, one of the main Western-style structures resembling the house in Germany where Goethe had lived before going out into the world. The students afterwards turned into volunteers who shared lunch before heading out to help weed the garden in front of it.
Things are communal at Yeobaek House of Books and at the Goethe Houses.
The communality of Yeobaek House did not stop during the COVID-19 pandemic days. “I opened Yeobaek House for professional artists, as well as for student musicians who did not have access to stages during that time,” Chon said.
Communality befits the renowned scholar in German literature, who won the Goethe Gold Medal from the Weimar Goethe Society. She opened Yeobaek House in 2014, and since then has added on the two Goethe Houses, with a bold aim to build a Goethe Village.
“It’s too much land for me to live and enjoy by myself. I wanted to share with people,” she said.
The Young Goethe House and the Garden House are Western-style edifices that mark the start of a Goethe Village she wants to build. A garden was the core concept of the village. The rectangular communal garden stretches in front of the Young Goethe House. She explained the design of the garden as a long rectangle holding four square 커뮤니티 plots within and allotting small spaces for visitors and volunteers to plant flowers of their choice. It was to allow for the experience of an exquisite garden but with common ownership that merges with nature. Her enthusiastic volunteers once ran a crowdfunding event to plant daffodils.
“Beautiful alone, and more beautiful together,” she said
In these days of monsoon-season summer, the flowers are also struggling with heat, but some managed to thrive.