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Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or w ...
, playwright,
novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire ...
,
scientist A scientist is a person who conducts scientific research to advance knowledge in an area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engaged in the philosop ...
,
statesman A statesman or stateswoman typically is a politician who has had a long and respected political career at the national or international level. Statesman or Statesmen may also refer to: Newspapers United States * ''The Statesman'' (Oregon), a ...
, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as treatises on
botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...
,
anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having i ...
, and
colour Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associ ...
. He is widely regarded as the greatest and most influential writer in the
German language German ( ) is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Italian province of South Tyrol. It is also a ...
, his work having a profound and wide-ranging influence on Western
literary Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to includ ...
,
political Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studi ...
, and philosophical thought from the late 18th century to the present day.. Goethe took up residence in
Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...
in November 1775 following the success of his first novel, '' The Sorrows of Young Werther'' (1774). He was
ennobled Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characterist ...
by the Duke of Saxe-Weimar, Karl August, in 1782. Goethe was an early participant in the '' Sturm und Drang'' literary movement. During his first ten years in Weimar, Goethe became a member of the Duke's privy council (1776–1785), sat on the war and highway commissions, oversaw the reopening of silver mines in nearby Ilmenau, and implemented a series of administrative reforms at the
University of Jena The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (german: Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany. The ...
. He also contributed to the planning of Weimar's botanical park and the rebuilding of its
Ducal Palace Several palaces are named Ducal Palace (Italian: ''Palazzo Ducale'' ) because it was the seat or residence of a duke. Notable palaces with the name include: France *Palace of the Dukes of Burgundy, Dijon * Palace of the Dukes of Lorraine, Nancy * ...
. Goethe's first major scientific work, the '' Metamorphosis of Plants'', was published after he returned from a 1788 tour of Italy. In 1791 he was made managing director of the theatre at Weimar, and in 1794 he began a friendship with the dramatist, historian, and philosopher Friedrich Schiller, whose plays he premiered until Schiller's death in 1805. During this period Goethe published his second novel, ''
Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship ''Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship'' ( ger, Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre) is the second novel by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, published in 1795–96. Plot The eponymous hero undergoes a journey of self-realization. The story centers upon Wilhelm ...
''; the verse epic '' Hermann and Dorothea'', and, in 1808, the first part of his most celebrated drama, '' Faust''. His conversations and various shared undertakings throughout the 1790s with Schiller, Johann Gottlieb Fichte, Johann Gottfried Herder,
Alexander von Humboldt Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 17696 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, naturalist, explorer, and proponent of Romantic philosophy and science. He was the younger brother of the Prussian minister ...
, Wilhelm von Humboldt, and
August August is the eighth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars, and the fifth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. Its zodiac sign is Leo and was originally named '' Sextilis'' in Latin because it was the 6th month i ...
and Friedrich Schlegel have come to be collectively termed Weimar Classicism. The German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer named ''Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship'' one of the four greatest novels ever written, while the American philosopher and essayist
Ralph Waldo Emerson Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803April 27, 1882), who went by his middle name Waldo, was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, abolitionist, and poet who led the transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He was seen as a cham ...
selected Goethe as one of six "representative men" in his work of the same name (along with
Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...
, Emanuel Swedenborg, Montaigne,
Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...
, and
Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
). Goethe's comments and observations form the basis of several biographical works, notably
Johann Peter Eckermann Johann Peter Eckermann (21 September 1792 – 3 December 1854), German poet and author, is best known for his work '' Conversations with Goethe'', the fruit of his association with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe during the last years of Goethe's life ...
's ''
Conversations with Goethe Conversation is interactive communication between two or more people. The development of conversational skills and etiquette is an important part of socialization. The development of conversational skills in a new language is a frequent focus ...
'' (1836). His poems were set to music by many composers including Mozart,
Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...
, Schubert, Berlioz, Liszt, Wagner, and Mahler.


Life


Early life

Goethe's father, Johann Caspar Goethe, lived with his family in a large house (today the
Goethe House The Goethe House is a writer's house museum located in the Innenstadt district of Frankfurt, Germany. It is the birthplace and childhood home of German poet and playwright Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. It is also the place where Goethe wrote h ...
) in
Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...
, then a
free imperial city In the Holy Roman Empire, the collective term free and imperial cities (german: Freie und Reichsstädte), briefly worded free imperial city (', la, urbs imperialis libera), was used from the fifteenth century to denote a self-ruling city that ...
of the
Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 unt ...
. Though he had studied law in Leipzig and had been appointed Imperial Councillor, Johann Caspar Goethe was not involved in the city's official affairs.
Herman Grimm Herman Grimm (6 January 1828 in Kassel16 June 1901 in Berlin) was a German academic and writer. Family and education Grimm's father was Wilhelm Grimm (1786–1859), and his uncle Jakob Grimm (1785–1863), the philologist compilers of indigenous ...
: ''Goethe. Vorlesungen gehalten an der Königlichen Universität zu Berlin.'' Vol. 1. J.G. Cotta'sche Buchhandlung Nachfolger, Stuttgart / Berlin 1923, p. 36
Johann Caspar married Goethe's mother, Catharina Elisabeth Textor, in Frankfurt on 20 August 1748, when he was 38 and she was 17. All their children, with the exception of Johann Wolfgang and his sister Cornelia Friederica Christiana (born in 1750), died at early ages. His father and private tutors gave the young Goethe lessons in common subjects of their time, especially languages (
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
, Greek, Biblical Hebrew (briefly), French, Italian, and English). Goethe also received lessons in dancing, riding, and fencing. Johann Caspar, feeling frustrated in his own ambitions, was determined that his children should have all those advantages that he had not. Although Goethe's great passion was drawing, he quickly became interested in
literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to ...
; Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock (1724–1803) and
Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...
were among his early favorites. He had a devotion to theater as well, and was greatly fascinated by puppet shows that were annually arranged in his home; this became a recurrent theme in his literary work ''
Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship ''Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship'' ( ger, Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre) is the second novel by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, published in 1795–96. Plot The eponymous hero undergoes a journey of self-realization. The story centers upon Wilhelm ...
''. He also took great pleasure in reading works on history and religion. He writes about this period: Goethe also became acquainted with Frankfurt actors. In early literary attempts he showed an infatuation with ''Gretchen'', who would later reappear in his ''Faust'', and the adventures with whom he would concisely describe in '' Dichtung und Wahrheit''. He adored Caritas Meixner (1750–1773), a wealthy Worms trader's daughter and friend of his sister, who would later marry the merchant G. F. Schuler.


Legal career

Goethe studied law at Leipzig University from 1765 to 1768. He detested learning age-old judicial rules by heart, preferring instead to attend the lessons of the poet and university's professor
Christian Fürchtegott Gellert Christian Fürchtegott Gellert (4 July 171513 December 1769) was a German poet, one of the forerunners of the golden age of German literature that was ushered in by Lessing. Biography Gellert was born at Hainichen in Saxony, at the foot of ...
. In Leipzig, Goethe fell in love with craftsman and innkeeper's daughter
Anna Katharina Schönkopf Anna Katharina Schönkopf (; 22 August 1746 – 20 May 1810) was the daughter of the pewterer and wine merchant Christian Gottlieb Schönkopf (; 1716-1791) Karl Robert Mandelkow and others: Goethes Briefe. 2. edition. Vol. 1: Briefe der J ...
and wrote cheerful verses about her in the
Rococo Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...
genre. In 1770, he anonymously released ''Annette'', his first collection of poems. His uncritical admiration for many contemporary poets vanished as he became interested in Gotthold Ephraim Lessing and
Christoph Martin Wieland Christoph Martin Wieland (; 5 September 1733 – 20 January 1813) was a German poet and writer. He is best-remembered for having written the first ''Bildungsroman'' (''Geschichte des Agathon''), as well as the epic ''Oberon'', which formed the ba ...
. By this time, Goethe had already written a great deal, but he discarded nearly all of these works except for the comedy ''Die Mitschuldigen''. The restaurant Auerbachs Keller and its legend of Faust's 1525 barrel ride impressed him so much that Auerbachs Keller became the only real place in his
closet drama A closet drama is a play that is not intended to be performed onstage, but read by a solitary reader or sometimes out loud in a large group. The contrast between closet drama and classic "stage" dramas dates back to the late eighteenth century. Al ...
''
Faust Part One ''Faust: A Tragedy'' (german: Faust. Eine Tragödie, links=no, , or aust. The tragedy's first part is the first part of the tragic play ''Faust'' by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and is considered by many as the greatest work of German literature ...
''. As his studies did not progress, Goethe was forced to return to Frankfurt at the close of August 1768. Goethe became severely ill in Frankfurt. During the year and a half that followed, because of several relapses, the relationship with his father worsened. During convalescence, Goethe was nursed by his mother and sister. In April 1770, Goethe left Frankfurt in order to finish his studies at the University of Strasbourg. In
Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...
, Goethe blossomed. No other landscape has he described as affectionately as the warm, wide Rhine area. In Strasbourg, Goethe met Johann Gottfried Herder. The two became close friends, and crucially to Goethe's intellectual development, Herder kindled his interest in
Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
, Ossian and in the notion of ''Volkspoesie'' (folk poetry). On 14 October 1772 Goethe held a gathering in his parental home in honour of the first German "Shakespeare Day". His first acquaintance with Shakespeare's works is described as his personal awakening in literature. On a trip to the village Sessenheim, Goethe fell in love with
Friederike Brion Friederike Elisabeth Brion Karl Robert Mandelkow, Bodo Morawe: ''Goethes Briefe''. 2nd edition, vol. 1: ''Briefe der Jahre 1764–1786'' (Hamburg: Christian Wegner, 1968, p. 571. (probably 19 April 1752 – 3 April 1813) was a parson's ...
, in October 1770, but terminated the relationship in August 1771. Several of his poems, like "", "" and "", originate from this time. At the end of August 1771, Goethe acquired the academic degree of the Licentiate of Law from Strasbourg and established a small legal practice in Frankfurt. Although in his academic work he had expressed the ambition to make
jurisprudence Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning ...
progressively more humane, his inexperience led him to proceed too vigorously in his first cases, and he was reprimanded and lost further ones. This prematurely terminated his career as a lawyer after only a few months. At this time, Goethe was acquainted with the court of Darmstadt, where his inventiveness was praised. From this milieu came Johann Georg Schlosser (who later became Goethe's brother-in-law) and Johann Heinrich Merck. Goethe also pursued literary plans again; this time, his father did not have anything against it, and even helped. Goethe obtained a copy of the biography of a noble highwayman from the German Peasants' War. In a couple of weeks the biography was reworked into a colourful drama. Entitled '' Götz von Berlichingen'', the work went directly to the heart of Goethe's contemporaries. Goethe could not subsist on being one of the editors of a literary periodical (published by Schlosser and Merck). In May 1772 he once more began the practice of law at Wetzlar. In 1774 he wrote the book which would bring him worldwide fame, '' The Sorrows of Young Werther''. The outer shape of the work's plot is widely taken over from what Goethe experienced during his Wetzlar time with
Charlotte Buff Charlotte Buff (11 January 1753, Wetzlar – 16 January 1828, Hanover) was a youthful acquaintance of the poet Goethe, who fell in love with her. She rejected him and instead married Johann Christian Kestner, vice-archivist and privy councillor ...
(1753–1828)Mandelkow, Karl Robert (1962). ''Goethes Briefe''. Vol. 1: ''Briefe der Jahre 1764–1786''. Christian Wegner Verlag. p. 589 and her fiancé,
Johann Christian Kestner Johann Georg Christian Kestner (28 August 174124 May 1800) was a German lawyer and archivist. He is also notable as the model for Lotte's husband Albert in ''The Sorrows of Young Werther'' by Goethe, with Kestner's fiancée Charlotte Buff used a ...
(1741–1800), as well as from the suicide of the author's friend
Karl Wilhelm Jerusalem Karl Wilhelm Jerusalem (21 March 174730 October 1772) was a German lawyer. His suicide in Wetzlar became the model for that of ''The Sorrows of Young Werther'' by Goethe. Life He was born in Wolfenbüttel to the Lutheran natural theologian ...
(1747–1772); in it, Goethe made a desperate passion of what was in reality a hearty and relaxed friendship. Despite the immense success of ''Werther'', it did not bring Goethe much financial gain because copyright laws at the time were essentially nonexistent. (In later years Goethe would bypass this problem by periodically authorizing "new, revised" editions of his ''Complete Works''.)


Early years in Weimar

In 1775, Goethe was invited, on the strength of his fame as the author of ''The Sorrows of Young Werther'', to the court of Karl August, Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, who would become Grand Duke in 1815. (Karl August at the time was 18 years of age, to Goethe's 26.) Goethe thus went to live in
Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...
, where he remained for the rest of his life and where, over the course of many years, he held a succession of offices, including superintendent of the ducal library, and was the Duke's friend and chief adviser. In 1776, Goethe formed a close relationship with Charlotte von Stein, an older, married woman. The intimate bond with her lasted for ten years, after which Goethe abruptly left for Italy without giving his companion any notice. She was emotionally distraught at the time, but they were eventually reconciled. Goethe, aside from official duties, was also a friend and confidant to Duke Karl August and participated in the activities of the court. For Goethe, his first ten years at Weimar could well be described as a garnering of a degree and range of experiences which perhaps could have been achieved in no other way. In 1779, Goethe took on the War Commission of the Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar, in addition to the Mines and Highways commissions. In 1782, when the chancellor of the Duchy's Exchequer left his office, Goethe agreed to act in his place and did so for two and a half years; this post virtually made him
prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...
and the principal representative of the Duchy. Goethe was
ennobled Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characterist ...
in 1782 (this being indicated by the " von" in his name). In that same year, Goethe moved into what would be his primary residence in Weimar for the next 50 years. As head of the Saxe-Weimar War Commission, Goethe participated in the recruitment of mercenaries into the Prussian and British military during the American Revolution. The author claims that Goethe engaged in negotiating the forced sale of vagabonds, criminals, and political dissidents as part of these activities.


Italy

Goethe's journey to the Italian peninsula and Sicily from 1786 to 1788 was of great significance in his aesthetic and philosophical development. His father had made a similar journey, and his example was a major motivating factor for Goethe to make the trip. More importantly, however, the work of Johann Joachim Winckelmann had provoked a general renewed interest in the classical art of ancient Greece and
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
. Thus Goethe's journey had something of the nature of a
pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...
to it. During the course of his trip Goethe met and befriended the artists Angelica Kauffman and
Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein, known as the ''Goethe Tischbein'' (15 February 1751 in Haina – 26 February 1829 in Eutin), was a German painter from the Tischbein family of artists. Biography Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein was born on 15 ...
, as well as encountering such notable characters as
Lady Hamilton Dame Emma Hamilton (born Amy Lyon; 26 April 176515 January 1815), generally known as Lady Hamilton, was an English maid, model, dancer and actress. She began her career in London's demi-monde, becoming the mistress of a series of wealthy men ...
and
Alessandro Cagliostro Count Alessandro di Cagliostro (, ; 2 June 1743 – 26 August 1795) was the alias of the Italian occultist Giuseppe Balsamo (; in French usually referred to as Joseph Balsamo). Cagliostro was an Italian adventurer and self-styled magician ...
(see Affair of the Diamond Necklace). He also journeyed to Sicily during this time, and wrote that "To have seen Italy without having seen Sicily is to not have seen Italy at all, for Sicily is the clue to everything." While in Southern Italy and Sicily, Goethe encountered, for the first time genuine Greek (as opposed to Roman) architecture, and was quite startled by its relative simplicity. Winckelmann had not recognized the distinctness of the two styles. Goethe's diaries of this period form the basis of the non-fiction '' Italian Journey''. ''Italian Journey'' only covers the first year of Goethe's visit. The remaining year is largely undocumented, aside from the fact that he spent much of it in
Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400  ...
. This "gap in the record" has been the source of much speculation over the years. In the decades which immediately followed its publication in 1816, ''Italian Journey'' inspired countless German youths to follow Goethe's example. This is pictured, somewhat satirically, in George Eliot's '' Middlemarch''.


Weimar

In late 1792, Goethe took part in the Battle of Valmy against revolutionary France, assisting Duke Karl August of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach during the failed invasion of France. Again during the Siege of Mainz, he assisted Carl August as a military observer. His written account of these events can be found within his ''Complete Works''. In 1794, Friedrich Schiller wrote to Goethe offering friendship; they had previously had only a mutually wary relationship ever since first becoming acquainted in 1788. This collaborative friendship lasted until Schiller's death in 1805. In 1806, Goethe was living in Weimar with his mistress
Christiane Vulpius Johanna Christiana Sophie Vulpius von Goethe (1 June 1765 – 6 June 1816) was the longtime lover and later wife of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Biography Vulpius spent her childhood in ''Luthergasse'', one of the oldest parts of Weimar. Her pat ...
, the sister of Christian A. Vulpius, and their son August von Goethe. On 13 October,
Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...
's army invaded the town. The French "spoon guards", the least disciplined soldiers, occupied Goethe's house: Days afterward, on 19 October 1806, Goethe legitimized their 18-year relationship by marrying Christiane in a quiet marriage service at the . They had already had several children together by this time, including their son, Julius August Walter von Goethe (1789–1830), whose wife,
Ottilie von Pogwisch Baroness Ottilie Wilhelmine Ernestine Henriette von Goethe (born ''Freiin von Pogwisch''; 31 October 1796, Danzig – 26 October 1872, Weimar) was a German socialite and the daughter-in-law of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Biography Her father, Wi ...
(1796–1872), cared for the elder Goethe until his death in 1832. August and Ottilie had three children: Walther, Freiherr von Goethe (1818–1885), (1820–1883) and (1827–1844). Christiane von Goethe died in 1816. Johann reflected, "There is nothing more charming to see than a mother with her child in her arms, and there is nothing more venerable than a mother among a number of her children."


Later life

After 1793, Goethe devoted his endeavours primarily to literature. By 1820, Goethe was on amiable terms with Kaspar Maria von Sternberg. In 1821, having recovered from a near fatal heart illness, the 72-year-old Goethe fell in love with Ulrike von Levetzow, 17 at the time. In 1823, he wanted to marry her, but because of the opposition of her mother, he never proposed. Their last meeting in Carlsbad on 5 September 1823 inspired his poem " Marienbad Elegy" which he considered one of his finest works. During that time he also developed a deep emotional bond with the Polish pianist
Maria Szymanowska Maria Szymanowska (Polish pronunciation: ; born Marianna Agata Wołowska; Warsaw, 14 December 1789 – 25 July 1831, St. Petersburg, Russia) was a Polish composer and one of the first professional virtuoso pianists of the 19th century. She tou ...
, 33 at the time and separated from her husband. In 1821 Goethe's friend Carl Friedrich Zelter introduced him to the 12-year-old Felix Mendelssohn. Goethe, now in his seventies, was greatly impressed by the child, leading to perhaps the earliest confirmed comparison with Mozart in the following conversation between Goethe and Zelter: Mendelssohn was invited to meet Goethe on several later occasions, and set a number of Goethe's poems to music. His other compositions inspired by Goethe include the overture '' Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage'' (Op. 27, 1828), and the cantata ''
Die erste Walpurgisnacht ''Die erste Walpurgisnacht'' (''The First Walpurgis Night'') is a poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, telling of the attempts of Druids in the Harz mountains to practice their pagan rituals in the face of new and dominating Christian forces. It wa ...
'' (''The First Walpurgis Night'', Op. 60, 1832).


Death

In 1832, Goethe died in
Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...
of apparent heart failure. His last words, according to his doctor , were, ' (More light!), but this is disputed as Vogel was not in the room at the moment Goethe died. He is buried in the Ducal Vault at Weimar's Historical Cemetery. Eckermann closes his famous work, ''
Conversations with Goethe Conversation is interactive communication between two or more people. The development of conversational skills and etiquette is an important part of socialization. The development of conversational skills in a new language is a frequent focus ...
'', with this passage: The first production of Richard Wagner's opera '' Lohengrin'' took place in Weimar in 1850. The conductor was Franz Liszt, who chose the date 28 August in honour of Goethe, who was born on 28 August 1749.


Descendants

Goethe married his long-time lover
Christiane Vulpius Johanna Christiana Sophie Vulpius von Goethe (1 June 1765 – 6 June 1816) was the longtime lover and later wife of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Biography Vulpius spent her childhood in ''Luthergasse'', one of the oldest parts of Weimar. Her pat ...
in 1806. They had 5 children, of whom only their eldest son August von Goethe managed to survive into adulthood. One was stillborn, while the others died early. August had 3 children with Ottilie von Goethe:
Walther von Goethe {{Infobox noble, type , name = Walther Wolfgang von Goethe , title = Freiherr , image = File:Walther Wolfgang Goethe Litho.jpg , caption = , alt = , CoA = , more ...
, Wolfgang and Alma. Alma died of
Typhoid fever Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over severa ...
during the outbreak in Vienna, the month before her 17th birthday. Walther and Wolfgang neither married nor had any children. Walther's gravestone states: "With him ends Goethe's dynasty, the name will last forever.", marking the end of Goethe's personal bloodline. While he has no direct descendants, his siblings have.


Literary work


Overview

The most important of Goethe's works produced before he went to Weimar were '' Götz von Berlichingen'' (1773), a tragedy that was the first work to bring him recognition, and the novel '' The Sorrows of Young Werther'' (German: ) (1774), which gained him enormous fame as a writer in the '' Sturm und Drang'' period which marked the early phase of
Romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...
. Indeed, ''Werther'' is often considered to be the "spark" which ignited the movement, and can arguably be called the world's first " best-seller". During the years at Weimar before he met Schiller in 1794, he began ''
Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship ''Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship'' ( ger, Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre) is the second novel by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, published in 1795–96. Plot The eponymous hero undergoes a journey of self-realization. The story centers upon Wilhelm ...
'' and wrote the dramas '' Iphigenie auf Tauris'' (''Iphigenia in Tauris''), ''
Egmont Egmont may refer to: * Egmont Group, a media corporation founded and rooted in Copenhagen, Denmark * Egmond family (often spelled "Egmont"), an influential Dutch family, lords of the town of Egmond ** Lamoral, Count of Egmont (1522–1568), the bes ...
'', and '' Torquato Tasso'' and the fable '' Reineke Fuchs''. To the period of his friendship with Schiller belong the conception of '' Wilhelm Meister's Journeyman Years'' (the continuation of ''Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship''), the idyll of '' Hermann and Dorothea'', the '' Roman Elegies'' and the verse drama ''
The Natural Daughter ''The Natural Daughter'' is the last of Goethe's three verse dramas in the classical style, after ''Iphigenia'' and ''Torquato Tasso''. Drawing on the real story of a young woman caught up in the French Revolution, it explores the impact of unco ...
''.See, generally Schiller, F. (1877). ''Correspondence between Schiller and Goethe, from 1794 to 1805'' (Vol. 1). G. Bell. In the last period, between Schiller's death, in 1805, and his own, appeared ''
Faust Part One ''Faust: A Tragedy'' (german: Faust. Eine Tragödie, links=no, , or aust. The tragedy's first part is the first part of the tragic play ''Faust'' by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and is considered by many as the greatest work of German literature ...
'' (1808), '' Elective Affinities'' (1809), the '' West-Eastern Diwan'' (an 1819 collection of poems in the Persian style, influenced by the work of Hafez), his autobiographical '' Aus meinem Leben: Dichtung und Wahrheit'' (''From My Life: Poetry and Truth'', published between 1811 and 1833) which covers his early life and ends with his departure for Weimar, his '' Italian Journey'' (1816–17), and a series of treatises on art. '' Faust, Part Two'' was completed before his 1832 death and published posthumously later that year. His writings were immediately influential in literary and artistic circles. Goethe was fascinated by Kalidasa's '' Abhijñānaśākuntalam'', which was one of the first works of Sanskrit literature that became known in Europe, after being translated from English to German.


Details of selected works

The short epistolary novel ''Die Leiden des jungen Werthers'', or '' The Sorrows of Young Werther'', published in 1774, recounts an unhappy romantic infatuation that ends in suicide. Goethe admitted that he "shot his hero to save himself": a reference to Goethe's own near-suicidal with a young woman during this period, an obsession he quelled through the writing process. The novel remains in print in dozens of languages and its influence is undeniable; its central hero, an obsessive figure driven to despair and destruction by his unrequited love for the young Lotte, has become a pervasive literary
archetype The concept of an archetype (; ) appears in areas relating to behavior, historical psychology, and literary analysis. An archetype can be any of the following: # a statement, pattern of behavior, prototype, "first" form, or a main model that ...
. The fact that ''Werther'' ends with the protagonist's suicide and funeral—a funeral which "no clergyman attended"—made the book deeply controversial upon its (anonymous) publication, for on the face of it, it appeared to condone and glorify suicide. Suicide is considered sinful by Christian doctrine: suicides were denied Christian burial with the bodies often mistreated and dishonoured in various ways; in corollary, the deceased's property and possessions were often confiscated by the Church. However, Goethe explained his use of ''Werther'' in his autobiography. He said he "turned reality into poetry but his friends thought poetry should be turned into reality and the poem imitated". He was against this reading of poetry. Epistolary novels were common during this time, letter-writing being a primary mode of communication. What set Goethe's book apart from other such novels was its expression of unbridled longing for a joy beyond possibility, its sense of defiant rebellion against authority, and of principal importance, its total subjectivity: qualities that trailblazed the Romantic movement. The next work, his epic
closet drama A closet drama is a play that is not intended to be performed onstage, but read by a solitary reader or sometimes out loud in a large group. The contrast between closet drama and classic "stage" dramas dates back to the late eighteenth century. Al ...
'' Faust'', was completed in stages. The first part was published in 1808 and created a sensation. Goethe finished ''
Faust Part Two ''Faust: The Second Part of the Tragedy'' (german: Faust. Der Tragödie zweiter Teil in fünf Akten.) is the second part of the tragic play ''Faust'' by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. It was published in 1832, the year of Goethe's death. Only part o ...
'' in the year of his death, and the work was published posthumously. Goethe's original draft of a Faust play, which probably dates from 1773–74, and is now known as the ''Urfaust'', was also published after his death. The first operatic version of Goethe's ''Faust'', by Louis Spohr, appeared in 1814. The work subsequently inspired operas and oratorios by Schumann, Berlioz, Gounod, Boito, Busoni and
Schnittke Alfred Garrievich Schnittke (russian: Альфре́д Га́рриевич Шни́тке, link=no, Alfred Garriyevich Shnitke; 24 November 1934 – 3 August 1998) was a Russian composer of Jewish-German descent. Among the most performed and re ...
, as well as symphonic works by Liszt, Wagner and Mahler. Faust became the ur-myth of many figures in the 19th century. Later, a facet of its plot, i.e., of selling one's soul to the devil for power over the physical world, took on increasing literary importance and became a view of the victory of technology and of industrialism, along with its dubious human expenses. In 1919, the world premiere complete production of ''Faust'' was staged at the Goetheanum. Goethe's poetic work served as a model for an entire movement in German poetry termed ''Innerlichkeit'' ("introversion") and represented by, for example,
Heine Heine is both a surname and a given name of German origin. People with that name include: People with the surname * Albert Heine (1867–1949), German actor * Alice Heine (1858–1925), American-born princess of Monaco * Armand Heine (1818–188 ...
. Goethe's words inspired a number of compositions by, among others, Mozart,
Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...
(who idolised Goethe), Schubert, Berlioz and Wolf. Perhaps the single most influential piece is "Mignon's Song" which opens with one of the most famous lines in German poetry, an allusion to Italy: "'?" ("Do you know the land where the lemon trees bloom?"). He is also widely quoted. Epigrams such as "Against criticism a man can neither protest nor defend himself; he must act in spite of it, and then it will gradually yield to him", " Divide and rule, a sound motto; unite and lead, a better one", and "Enjoy when you can, and endure when you must", are still in usage or are often paraphrased. Lines from ''Faust'', such as "", "", or "" have entered everyday German usage. Some well-known quotations are often incorrectly attributed to Goethe. These include
Hippocrates Hippocrates of Kos (; grc-gre, Ἱπποκράτης ὁ Κῷος, Hippokrátēs ho Kôios; ), also known as Hippocrates II, was a Greek physician of the classical period who is considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history o ...
' "Art is long, life is short", which is echoed in Goethe's ''Faust'' and ''Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship''.


Scientific work

Although his literary work has attracted the most interest, Goethe was also keenly involved in studies of natural science. He wrote several works on morphology and colour theory. In the 1790s, he undertook Galvanic experiments and studied anatomical issues together with Alexander von Humboldt. He also had the largest private collection of minerals in all of Europe. By the time of his death, in order to gain a comprehensive view in geology, he had collected 17,800 rock samples. His focus on morphology and what was later called homology influenced 19th-century naturalists, although his ideas of transformation were about the continuous metamorphosis of living things and did not relate to contemporary ideas of "transformisme" or transmutation of species. Homology, or as
Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (15 April 177219 June 1844) was a French naturalist who established the principle of "unity of composition". He was a colleague of Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and expanded and defended Lamarck's evolutionary theories ...
called it "analogie", was used by
Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended ...
as strong evidence of common descent and of laws of variation. Goethe's studies (notably with an elephant's skull lent to him by
Samuel Thomas von Soemmerring Samuel ''Šəmūʾēl'', Tiberian: ''Šămūʾēl''; ar, شموئيل or صموئيل '; el, Σαμουήλ ''Samouḗl''; la, Samūēl is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the bib ...
) led him to independently discover the human intermaxillary bone, also known as "Goethe's bone", in 1784, which
Broussonet Pierre Marie Auguste Broussonet (28 February 1761 – 17 January 1807) was a French naturalist who contributed primarily to botany. He was born in Montpellier, where he was educated, and travelled to Morocco, Spain, the Canary Islands, and Southe ...
(1779) and Vicq d'Azyr (1780) had (using different methods) identified several years earlier. While not the only one in his time to question the prevailing view that this bone did not exist in humans, Goethe, who believed ancient anatomists had known about this bone, was the first to prove its existence in all mammals. The elephant's skull that led Goethe to this discovery, and was subsequently named the Goethe Elephant, still exists and is displayed in the Ottoneum in Kassel, Germany. During his Italian journey, Goethe formulated a theory of plant metamorphosis in which the archetypal form of the plant is to be found in the ''leaf'' – he writes, "from top to bottom a plant is all leaf, united so inseparably with the future bud that one cannot be imagined without the other". In 1790, he published his '' Metamorphosis of Plants''. As one of the many precursors in the history of evolutionary thought, Goethe wrote in ''Story of My Botanical Studies'' (1831): Goethe's botanical theories were partly based on his gardening in Weimar. Goethe also popularized the Goethe barometer using a principle established by Torricelli. According to Hegel, "Goethe has occupied himself a good deal with meteorology; barometer readings interested him particularly... What he says is important: the main thing is that he gives a comparative table of barometric readings during the whole month of December 1822, at Weimar,
Jena Jena () is a German city and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 inhabitants, while the city itself has a po ...
, London, Boston, Vienna, Töpel... He claims to deduce from it that the barometric level varies in the same proportion not only in each zone but that it has the same variation, too, at different altitudes above sea-level". In 1810, Goethe published his '' Theory of Colours'', which he considered his most important work. In it, he contentiously characterized colour as arising from the dynamic interplay of light and darkness through the mediation of a turbid medium. In 1816,
Schopenhauer Arthur Schopenhauer ( , ; 22 February 1788 – 21 September 1860) was a German philosopher. He is best known for his 1818 work ''The World as Will and Representation'' (expanded in 1844), which characterizes the phenomenal world as the pr ...
went on to develop his own theory in ''
On Vision and Colours ''On Vision and Colors'' (originally translated as ''On Vision and Colours''; german: Ueber das Sehn und die Farben) is a treatise by Arthur Schopenhauer that was published in May 1816 when the author was 28 years old. Schopenhauer had extensive d ...
'' based on the observations supplied in Goethe's book. After being translated into English by
Charles Eastlake Charles Locke Eastlake (11 March 1836 – 20 November 1906) was a British architect and furniture designer. His uncle, Sir Charles Lock Eastlake PRA (born in 1793), was a Keeper of the National Gallery, from 1843 to 1847, and from 1855 its fi ...
in 1840, his theory became widely adopted by the art world, most notably J. M. W. Turner. Goethe's work also inspired the philosopher
Ludwig Wittgenstein Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein ( ; ; 26 April 1889 – 29 April 1951) was an Austrian- British philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language. He is consi ...
, to write his '' Remarks on Colour''. Goethe was vehemently opposed to Newton's analytic treatment of colour, engaging instead in compiling a comprehensive ''rational description'' of a wide variety of colour phenomena. Although the accuracy of Goethe's observations does not admit a great deal of criticism, his aesthetic approach did not lend itself to the demands of analytic and mathematical analysis used ubiquitously in modern Science. Goethe was, however, the first to systematically study the physiological effects of colour, and his observations on the effect of opposed colours led him to a symmetric arrangement of his colour wheel, "for the colours diametrically opposed to each other ... are those which reciprocally evoke each other in the eye." In this, he anticipated Ewald Hering's opponent colour theory (1872). Goethe outlines his method in the essay ''The experiment as mediator between subject and object'' (1772). In the Kurschner edition of Goethe's works, the science editor, Rudolf Steiner, presents Goethe's approach to science as phenomenological. Steiner elaborated on that in the books ''The Theory of Knowledge Implicit in Goethe's World-Conception'' and ''Goethe's World View'', in which he characterizes intuition as the instrument by which one grasps Goethe's biological archetype—''The Typus''.
Novalis Georg Philipp Friedrich Freiherr von Hardenberg (2 May 1772 – 25 March 1801), pen name Novalis (), was a German polymath who was a writer, philosopher, poet, aristocrat and mystic. He is regarded as an idiosyncratic and influential figure o ...
, himself a
geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althou ...
and mining engineer, expressed the opinion that Goethe was the first physicist of his time and "epoch-making in the history of physics", writing that Goethe's studies of light, of the metamorphosis of plants and of insects were indications and proofs "that the perfect educational lecture belongs in the artist's sphere of work"; and that Goethe would be surpassed "but only in the way in which the ancients can be surpassed, in inner content and force, in variety and depth—as an artist actually not, or only very little, for his rightness and intensity are perhaps already more exemplary than it would seem".


Eroticism

Many of Goethe's works, especially '' Faust'', the '' Roman Elegies'', and the ''Venetian Epigrams'', depict erotic passions and acts. For instance, in ''Faust'', the first use of Faust's power after signing a contract with the Devil is to seduce a teenage girl. Some of the ''Venetian Epigrams'' were held back from publication due to their sexual content. Goethe clearly saw human sexuality as a topic worthy of poetic and artistic depiction, an idea that was uncommon in a time when the private nature of sexuality was rigorously normative. In a conversation on 7 April 1830 Goethe stated that
pederasty Pederasty or paederasty ( or ) is a sexual relationship between an adult man and a pubescent or adolescent boy. The term ''pederasty'' is primarily used to refer to historical practices of certain cultures, particularly ancient Greece and an ...
is an "aberration" that easily leads to "animal, roughly material" behavior. He continued, "Pederasty is as old as humanity itself, and one can therefore say, that it resides in nature, even if it proceeds against nature....What culture has won from nature will not be surrendered or given up at any price." On another occasion he wrote: "I like boys a lot, but the girls are even nicer. If I tire of her as a girl, she'll play the boy for me as well".


Religion and politics

Goethe was a freethinker who believed that one could be inwardly Christian without following any of the Christian churches, many of whose central teachings he firmly opposed, sharply distinguishing between Christ and the tenets of Christian theology, and criticizing its history as a "hodgepodge of mistakes and violence". His own descriptions of his relationship to the Christian faith and even to the Church varied widely and have been interpreted even more widely, so that while Goethe's secretary Eckermann portrayed him as enthusiastic about Christianity, Jesus, Martin Luther, and the
Protestant Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and i ...
, even calling Christianity the "ultimate religion", on one occasion Goethe described himself as "not anti-Christian, nor un-Christian, but most decidedly non-Christian," and in his Venetian Epigram 66, Goethe listed the symbol of the cross among the four things that he most disliked. According to Nietzsche, Goethe had "a kind of almost ''joyous'' and ''trusting fatalism''" that has "faith that only in the totality everything redeems itself and appears good and justified." Born into a
Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...
family, Goethe's early faith was shaken by news of such events as the
1755 Lisbon earthquake The 1755 Lisbon earthquake, also known as the Great Lisbon earthquake, impacted Portugal, the Iberian Peninsula, and Northwest Africa on the morning of Saturday, 1 November, Feast of All Saints, at around 09:40 local time. In combination with ...
and the
Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754 ...
. A year before his death, in a letter to
Sulpiz Boisserée Sulpiz Boiserée (2 August 1783 - 2 May 1854) was a German art collector and art historian. With his brother Melchior he formed a collection that ultimately formed the basis of that of the Alte Pinakothek. He played a key role in the completion of ...
, Goethe wrote that he had the feeling that all his life he had been aspiring to qualify as one of the Hypsistarians, an ancient sect of the Black Sea region who, in his understanding, sought to reverence, as being close to the Godhead, what came to their knowledge of the best and most perfect. Goethe's unorthodox religious beliefs led him to be called "the great heathen" and provoked distrust among the authorities of his time, who opposed the creation of a Goethe monument on account of his offensive religious creed. August Wilhelm Schlegel considered Goethe "a heathen who converted to Islam." Goethe's interest in Islam stretches back to his academic years, where he was first introduced to it by Johann Gottfried Herder, who advised Goethe to read the Quran. At age 23, Goethe wrote a poem about a river, originally part of a dramatic dialogue, but which he published as a separate work called ''Mahomets Gesang'' ("Muhammad's Song"), a title that "seems redundant". Regarding the Quran, Goethe wrote that "Closer designations of what is commanded and forbidden, legends from the Jewish and Christian religions, elaborations of all kinds, numberless tautologies and repetitions form the body of this holy book, which, whenever I approach it, repels me always anew, but then attracts me, astonishes me, and in the end elicits my admiration." He continues "The main purpose of the Qur'an seems to have been to unite the adherents of the three different religions that were prominent in the populous Arabia of that time... to unite these groups in the recognition of the one eternal and invisible God, through whose omnipotence all things are created." Goethe would read the Quran several times throughout his life, and even wrote chapters of it in Arabic, collecting them in his 'Koran-Auszüge' (“Summary of the Quran”), in which he appears to have studied at least two-thirds of the Quran, and is currently held in the Goethe Museum in Düsseldorf. When the Duke asked Goethe to translate Voltaire's satirical play mocking the Prophet Muhammad, he replied that “My prince's desire forced me to translate Voltaire's drama ‘Mahomet,' which would be very strange to some. I owe him a lot”, and he had written the draft of a drama praising Prophet Muhammad, called “Mahomet”, in a rebuttal to Voltaire. In 1819, he publicly declared that he was considering celebrating the night of Quranic revelation to Prophet Muhammad, and along with announcing the publication of his ''West–östlicher Divan'', did not "reject the suspicion that he may himself be a Muslim", although Dallmayr points out that this phrase might "of course, contain poetic licence". As a result of his genius, his poetry and reasoning, some Muslims have proclaimed Goethe to be "a true Muslim"; at the same time he has enjoyed a similar reputation among Christians, being regarded as "a true Christian", for example, by Mommsen. Karic suggests, however, that attempts to claim Goethe for any religion "is a pointless, Sysiphean task". Politically, Goethe described himself as a "moderate liberal". He was critical of the radicalism of Bentham and expressed sympathy for the prudent liberalism of François Guizot. At the time of the
French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...
, he thought the enthusiasm of the students and professors to be a perversion of their energy and remained skeptical of the ability of the masses to govern.McCabe, Joseph. 'Goethe: The Man and His Character'. p. 343 Goethe sympathized with the
American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...
and later wrote a poem in which he declared "America, you're better off than our continent, the old." He did not join in the anti-Napoleonic mood of 1812, and he distrusted the strident nationalism which started to be expressed. The medievalism of the Heidelberg Romantics was also repellent to Goethe's eighteenth-century ideal of a supra-national culture. Goethe was a Freemason, joining the lodge Amalia in Weimar in 1780, and frequently alluded to Masonic themes of universal brotherhood in his work. He was also attracted to the Bavarian Illuminati, a secret society founded on 1 May 1776. Although often requested to write poems arousing nationalist passions, Goethe would always decline. In old age, he explained why this was so to Eckermann:


Influence

Goethe had a great effect on the nineteenth century. In many respects, he was the originator of many ideas which later became widespread. He produced volumes of poetry, essays, criticism, a theory of
colours Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associa ...
and early work on
evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...
and
linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Ling ...
. He was fascinated by mineralogy, and the mineral goethite ( iron oxide) is named after him. His non-fiction writings, most of which are philosophic and
aphoristic An aphorism (from Greek ἀφορισμός: ''aphorismos'', denoting 'delimitation', 'distinction', and 'definition') is a concise, terse, laconic, or memorable expression of a general truth or principle. Aphorisms are often handed down by tra ...
in nature, spurred the development of many thinkers, including Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Arthur Schopenhauer, Søren Kierkegaard,
Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his ...
, Ernst Cassirer, and
Carl Jung Carl Gustav Jung ( ; ; 26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who founded analytical psychology. Jung's work has been influential in the fields of psychiatry, anthropology, archaeology, literature, ph ...
. Along with Schiller, he was one of the leading figures of Weimar Classicism.
Schopenhauer Arthur Schopenhauer ( , ; 22 February 1788 – 21 September 1860) was a German philosopher. He is best known for his 1818 work ''The World as Will and Representation'' (expanded in 1844), which characterizes the phenomenal world as the pr ...
cited Goethe's novel ''Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship'' as one of the four greatest novels ever written, along with '' Tristram Shandy'', '' La Nouvelle Héloïse'' and '' Don Quixote''. Nietzsche wrote, "Four pairs it was that did not deny themselves to my sacrifice: Epicurus and Montaigne, Goethe and Spinoza, Plato and Rousseau,
Pascal Pascal, Pascal's or PASCAL may refer to: People and fictional characters * Pascal (given name), including a list of people with the name * Pascal (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name ** Blaise Pascal, Frenc ...
and Schopenhauer. With these I must come to terms when I have long wandered alone; they may call me right and wrong; to them will I listen when in the process they call each other right and wrong." Goethe embodied many of the contending strands in art over the next century: his work could be lushly emotional, and rigorously formal, brief and epigrammatic, and epic. He would argue that Classicism was the means of controlling art, and that
Romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...
was a sickness, even as he penned poetry rich in memorable images, and rewrote the formal rules of German poetry. His poetry was set to music by almost every major Austrian and German composer from Mozart to Mahler, and his influence would spread to French drama and opera as well.
Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...
declared that a "Faust" Symphony would be the greatest thing for art. Liszt and Mahler both created symphonies in whole or in large part inspired by this
seminal Seminal, ultimately from Latin ''semen'', "seed", may refer to: *Relating to seeds *Relating to semen *(Of a work, event, or person) Having much social influence Social influence comprises the ways in which individuals adjust their behavior to mee ...
work, which would give the 19th century one of its most paradigmatic figures: Doctor Faustus. The ''Faust'' tragedy/drama, often called ' (the drama of the Germans), written in two parts published decades apart, would stand as his most characteristic and famous artistic creation. Followers of the twentieth-century esotericist Rudolf Steiner built a theatre named the Goetheanum after him—where festival performances of '' Faust'' are still performed. Goethe was also a cultural force. During his first meeting with
Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...
in 1808, the latter famously remarked: " (You are a man)!" The two discussed politics, the writings of Voltaire, and Goethe's ''Sorrows of Young Werther'', which Napoleon had read seven times and ranked among his favorites. Goethe came away from the meeting deeply impressed with Napoleon's enlightened intellect and his efforts to build an alternative to the corrupt old regime. Goethe always spoke of Napoleon with the greatest respect, confessing that "nothing higher and more pleasing could have happened to me in all my life" than to have met Napoleon in person. Germaine de Staël, in ''
De l'Allemagne ''On Germany'' (french: De l'Allemagne), also known in English as ''Germany'', is a book about German culture and in particular German Romanticism, written by the French writer Germaine de Staël. It promotes Romantic literature, introducing t ...
'' (1813), presented German Classicism and Romanticism as a potential source of spiritual authority for Europe, and identified Goethe as a living classic. She praised Goethe as possessing "the chief characteristics of the German genius" and uniting "all that distinguishes the German mind." Staël's portrayal helped elevate Goethe over his more famous German contemporaries and transformed him into a European cultural hero. Goethe met with her and her partner
Benjamin Constant Henri-Benjamin Constant de Rebecque (; 25 October 1767 – 8 December 1830), or simply Benjamin Constant, was a Franco-Swiss political thinker, activist and writer on political theory and religion. A committed republican from 1795, he backed t ...
, with whom he shared a mutual admiration. In Victorian England, Goethe's great disciple was
Thomas Carlyle Thomas Carlyle (4 December 17955 February 1881) was a Scottish essayist, historian and philosopher. A leading writer of the Victorian era, he exerted a profound influence on 19th-century art, literature and philosophy. Born in Ecclefechan, ...
, who wrote the essays "Faustus" (1822), "Goethe's Helena" (1828), "Goethe" (1828), "Goethe's Works" (1832), "Goethe's Portrait" (1832), and "Death of Goethe" (1832) which introduced Goethe to English readers; translated ''Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship'' (1824) and ''Travels'' (1826), "Faust's Curse" (1830), "The Tale" (1832), "Novelle" (1832) and "Symbolum" at a time when few read German; and with whom Goethe corresponded. Goethe exerted a profound influence on George Eliot, whose partner George Henry Lewes wrote a ''Life of Goethe'' (dedicated to Carlyle). Eliot presented Goethe as "eminently the man who helps us to rise to a lofty point of observation" and praised his "large tolerance", which "quietly follows the stream of fact and of life" without passing moral judgments. Matthew Arnold found in Goethe the "Physician of the Iron Age" and "the clearest, the largest, the most helpful thinker of modern times" with a "large, liberal view of life". It was to a considerable degree due to Goethe's reputation that the city of
Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...
was chosen in 1919 as the venue for the
national assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the r ...
, convened to draft a new constitution for what would become known as Germany's
Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a Constitutional republic, constitutional federal republic for the first time in ...
. Goethe became a key reference for
Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novell ...
in his speeches and essays defending the republic. He emphasized Goethe's "cultural and self-developing individualism", humanism, and cosmopolitanism. The Federal Republic of Germany's cultural institution, the Goethe-Institut, is named after him, and promotes the study of German abroad and fosters knowledge about Germany by providing information on its culture, society and politics. The literary estate of Goethe in the Goethe and Schiller Archives was inscribed on
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...
's Memory of the World Register in 2001 in recognition of its historical significance. Goethe's influence was dramatic because he understood that there was a transition in European sensibilities, an increasing focus on sense, the indescribable, and the emotional. This is not to say that he was emotionalistic or excessive; on the contrary, he lauded personal restraint and felt that excess was a disease: "There is nothing worse than imagination without taste". Goethe praised
Francis Bacon Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626), also known as Lord Verulam, was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England. Bacon led the advancement of both ...
for his advocacy of science based on experiment and his forceful revolution in thought as one of the greatest strides forward in modern science. However, he was critical of Bacon's inductive method and approach based on pure classification. He said in ''Scientific Studies'': Goethe's scientific and aesthetic ideas have much in common with Denis Diderot, whose work he translated and studied. Both Diderot and Goethe exhibited a repugnance towards the mathematical interpretation of nature; both perceived the universe as dynamic and in constant flux; both saw "art and science as compatible disciplines linked by common imaginative processes"; and both grasped "the unconscious impulses underlying mental creation in all forms." Goethe's ''Naturanschauer'' is in many ways a sequel to Diderot's ''interprète de la nature''. His views make him, along with Adam Smith,
Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...
, and
Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...
, a figure in two worlds: on the one hand, devoted to the sense of taste, order, and finely crafted detail, which is the hallmark of the artistic sense of the
Age of Reason The Age of reason, or the Enlightenment, was an intellectual and philosophical movement that dominated the world of ideas in Europe during the 17th to 19th centuries. Age of reason or Age of Reason may also refer to: * Age of reason (canon law), ...
and the neo-classical period of architecture; on the other, seeking a personal, intuitive, and personalized form of expression and society, firmly supporting the idea of self-regulating and organic systems. George Henry Lewes celebrated Goethe's revolutionary understanding of the organism. Thinkers such as
Ralph Waldo Emerson Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803April 27, 1882), who went by his middle name Waldo, was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, abolitionist, and poet who led the transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He was seen as a cham ...
would take up many similar ideas in the 1800s. Goethe's ideas on
evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...
would frame the question that Darwin and
Wallace Wallace may refer to: People * Clan Wallace in Scotland * Wallace (given name) * Wallace (surname) * Wallace (footballer, born 1986), full name Wallace Fernando Pereira, Brazilian football left-back * Wallace (footballer, born 1987), full name ...
would approach within the scientific paradigm. The Serbian inventor and electrical engineer
Nikola Tesla Nikola Tesla ( ; ,"Tesla"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''.
; 1856 – 7 January 1943 ...
was heavily influenced by Goethe's ''Faust'', his favorite poem, and had actually memorized the entire text. It was while reciting a certain verse that he was struck with the epiphany that would lead to the idea of the rotating magnetic field and ultimately,
alternating current Alternating current (AC) is an electric current which periodically reverses direction and changes its magnitude continuously with time in contrast to direct current (DC) which flows only in one direction. Alternating current is the form in whic ...
.Seifer, Marc J. (1998
"Wizard: The Life and Times of Nikola Tesla: Biography of a Genius"
Citadel Press, pp. 22, 308


Books related to Goethe

* ''The Life of Goethe'' by George Henry Lewes * ''Goethe: The History of a Man'' by Emil Ludwig * ''Goethe'' by Georg Brandes. Authorized translation from the Danish (2nd ed. 1916) by Allen W. Porterfield, New York, Crown publishers, 1936. "Crown edition, 1936." Title ''Wolfgang Goethe'' * ''Goethe: His Life and Times'' by * '' Lotte in Weimar: The Beloved Returns'' by
Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novell ...
* ''
Conversations with Goethe Conversation is interactive communication between two or more people. The development of conversational skills and etiquette is an important part of socialization. The development of conversational skills in a new language is a frequent focus ...
'' by
Johann Peter Eckermann Johann Peter Eckermann (21 September 1792 – 3 December 1854), German poet and author, is best known for his work '' Conversations with Goethe'', the fruit of his association with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe during the last years of Goethe's life ...
* ''Goethe's World: as seen in letters and memoirs'' ed. by Berthold Biermann * ''Goethe: Four Studies'' by Albert Schweitzer * ''Goethe Poet and Thinker'' by E.M. Wilkinson and L.A. Willoughby * ''Goethe and his Publishers'' by * ''Goethe'' by T.J. Reed * ''Goethe. A Psychoanalytic Study'', by Kurt R. Eissler * ''The Life of Goethe. A Critical Biography'' by John Williams * ''Goethe: The Poet and the Age'' (2 Vols.), by
Nicholas Boyle Nicholas Boyle FBA (born 18 June 1946) is an English literary critic. He is the emeritus Schröder Professor of German at the University of Cambridge and a fellow of Magdalene College, Cambridge. He has written widely on German literature, int ...
* ''Goethe's Concept of the Daemonic: After the Ancients'', by Angus Nicholls * ''Goethe and Rousseau: Resonances of their Mind'', by Carl Hammer, Jr. * ''Doctor Faustus of the popular legend, Marlowe, the Puppet-Play, Goethe, and Lenau, treated historically and critically. – A parallel between Goethe and Schiller. – An historic outline of German Literature '', by Louis Pagel * ''Goethe and Schiller, Essays on German Literature'', by Hjalmar Hjorth Boyesen * ''Goethe-Wörterbuch'' (Goethe Dictionary, abbreviated GWb). Herausgegeben von der Berlin-Brandenburgischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, der Akademie der Wissenschaften in Göttingen und der Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften. Stuttgart. Kohlhammer Verlag; *''West-Eastern Divan: Complete, annotated new translation, including Goethe's 'Notes and Essays' & the unpublished poems'', translated by Eric Ormsby, 2019. Gingko, *''Goethe's Path to Creativity: A Psycho-Biography of the Eminent Politician, Scientist and Poet'', translated by Deanna Stewart, New York, NY, Routledge, 2019.


See also

* ''
Young Goethe in Love ''Young Goethe in Love'' (originally titled ''Goethe!'') is a 2010 German historical drama film directed by Philipp Stölzl and starring Alexander Fehling, Miriam Stein, and Moritz Bleibtreu. It is a fictionalized version of the early years of t ...
'' (2010) * Dora Stock – her encounters with the 16-year-old Goethe. * Goethe Basin, a large crater on the planet Mercury *
Johann-Wolfgang-von-Goethe-Gymnasium Johann-Wolfgang-von-Goethe-Gymnasium Chemnitz is a public secondary school in Chemnitz, Saxony, Germany, for grades 5–12. It is one of seven secondary schools operating in Chemnitz, Bernsdorf Its name changed in the past multiple times, and th ...
*
W. H. Murray William Hutchison Murray (18 March 1913 – 19 March 1996) was a Scottish mountaineer and writer, one of a group of active mountain climbers, mainly from Clydeside, before and just after World War II. Life Murray was born in Liverpool, the son ...
– author of misattributed quotation "Until one is committed ..." * "
Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...
", essay often mis-attributed to Goethe Awards named after him * Goethe Awards * Goethe Prize * Hanseatic Goethe Prize


Works

* Johann Wolfgang von Goethe bibliography


Notes


References


Citations


Sources

* * *


Further reading

*Bell Matthew. 1994. ''Goethe's Naturalistic Anthropology : Man and Other Plants.'' Oxford: Clarendon Press. * * Calder, Angus (1983), ''
Scott Scott may refer to: Places Canada * Scott, Quebec, municipality in the Nouvelle-Beauce regional municipality in Quebec * Scott, Saskatchewan, a town in the Rural Municipality of Tramping Lake No. 380 * Rural Municipality of Scott No. 98, Sask ...
& Goethe: Romantiscism and Classicism'', in Hearn, Sheila G. (ed.), '' Cencrastus'' No. 13, Summer 1983, pp. 25–28, * Von Gronicka, André. 1968. ''The Russian Image of Goethe. Volume 1 Goethe in Russian Literature of the First Half of the Nineteenth Century.'' Philadelphia Pa: University of Pennsylvania Press. *Von Gronicka, Andrè. 1985 ''The Russian Image of Goethe. Volume 2 Goethe in Russian Literature of the Second Half of the Nineteenth Century.'' Philadelphia Pa: University of Pennsylvania Press. *Hatfield Henry Caraway. 1963. ''Goethe: A Critical Introduction.'' Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. *Jane K. n.d. ''Goethe's Allegories of Identity.'' Philadelphia Pa: University of Pennsylvania Press. *Maertz Gregory. 2017. ''Literature and the Cult of Personality: Essays on Goethe and His Influence.'' New York, NY:Columbia University Press. * *Robertson, Ritchie. 2016. ''Goethe : A Very Short Introduction.'' Oxford: Oxford University Press. * *Viëtor Karl and Bayard Quincy Morgan. 1950. ''Goethe the Thinker.'' Cambridge Mass: Harvard University Press.


External links

* * * * * *
"Goethe and the Science of the Enlightenment"
''In Our Time'',
BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC's ...
discussion with
Nicholas Boyle Nicholas Boyle FBA (born 18 June 1946) is an English literary critic. He is the emeritus Schröder Professor of German at the University of Cambridge and a fellow of Magdalene College, Cambridge. He has written widely on German literature, int ...
and Simon Schaffer (10 February 2000). * * At the Linda Hall Library, Goethe's: ** (1810
''Zur Farbenlehre'' (Atlas)
** (1840
''Goethe's Theory of Colours; translated from the German: with notes by Charles Lock Eastlake''

Works by and about Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in University Library JCS Frankfurt am Main: Digital Collections Judaica
*
Goethe in English
at ''Poems Found in Translation''

lieder.net
Goethe Quotes: New English translations and German originals
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von 1749 births 1832 deaths 18th-century educators 18th-century essayists 18th-century German civil servants 18th-century German dramatists and playwrights 18th-century German male writers 18th-century German novelists 18th-century German philosophers 18th-century German poets 18th-century historians 18th-century non-fiction writers 18th-century travel writers 19th-century educators 19th-century essayists 19th-century German civil servants 19th-century German diplomats 19th-century German dramatists and playwrights 19th-century German male writers 19th-century German non-fiction writers 19th-century German novelists 19th-century German philosophers 19th-century German poets 19th-century historians 19th-century travel writers Color scientists Cultural critics Enlightenment philosophers Epic poets Epigrammatists Fabulists Freethought writers German autobiographers German bibliophiles German diplomats German ethicists German Freemasons German historians German librarians German male dramatists and playwrights German male non-fiction writers German male novelists German male poets German philosophers German travel writers German untitled nobility Leipzig University alumni Literacy and society theorists Literary theorists Members of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences Members of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities Moral philosophers Natural philosophers Pantheists People from Weimar Philosophers of art Philosophers of culture Philosophers of education Philosophers of ethics and morality Philosophers of history Philosophers of language Philosophers of linguistics Philosophers of literature Philosophers of science Philosophers of sexuality Philosophers of social science Philosophy writers Political philosophers Scientists from Weimar Romantic poets Social commentators Social critics Social philosophers Sturm und Drang Theorists on Western civilization University of Strasbourg alumni Writers about activism and social change Writers from Frankfurt Writers from Weimar