The Lessing-Haus is the house on the Lessingplatz where Gotthold Ephraim Lessing lived from 1777 until his death in 1781. Lessing, one of the most important German writers of the Enlightenment — best known for his play Nathan the Wise, which argued for religious tolerance — spent his final years here while serving as director of the Herzog August Bibliothek. The house is now a small museum dedicated to his life and work, administered as part of the library complex.
The collection includes manuscripts, letters, first editions, and personal effects. It is a modest but well-curated memorial for visitors with a serious interest in German literary history. The Lessingplatz outside, where the library and the house both stand, is a pleasant square worth lingering in.