Goethe worked on Faust for most of his adult life, completing Part Two just before his death in Weimar in 1832. The play's themes — the restless pursuit of knowledge, the bargain with the devil, the cost of ambition — are as relevant now as they were two centuries ago. It is the central work of German literature, and Weimar is where it was written.
Part One is accessible and dramatic. Part Two is dense, allegorical, and difficult, but you do not need to read it to appreciate Goethe's Weimar. Even dipping into the opening scenes of Part One before visiting the Frauenplan house changes the experience — you understand what the man in that study was wrestling with.