{{Infobox noble, type , name = Walther Wolfgang von Goethe , title =

Freiherr (; male, abbreviated as ), (; his wife, abbreviated as , literally "free lord" or "free lady") and (, his unmarried daughters and maiden aunts) are designations used as titles of nobility in the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empir ...

, image = File:Walther Wolfgang Goethe Litho.jpg , caption = , alt = , CoA = , more = no , succession = , reign = , reign-type = , predecessor = , successor = , suc-type = , spouse = , spouse-type = , issue = , issue-link = , issue-pipe = , full name = , styles = , titles = , noble family = , house-type = , father =

August von Goethe August von Goethe, portrait by Julie Gräfin Egloffstein Julius August Walther von Goethe (25 December 1789 – 27 October 1830) was the only one of the five children of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Christiane Vulpius to survive into adulth ...

, mother =

Ottilie von Goethe 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 ...

, birth_date = {{Birth date, 1818, 04, 09, df=y , birth_place = , christening_date = , christening_place = , death_date = {{Death date and age, 1885, 04, 15, 1818, 04, 09, df=y , death_place = , burial_date = , burial_place = , religion = , occupation = Composer, court chamberlain , memorials = , url = , module = Walther Wolfgang Freiherr von Goethe (9 April 1818 – 15 April 1885) was a German composer and court chamberlain. He was one of the grandsons and last living descendant of

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as t ...

. Goethe was the eldest child of August and Ottilie von Goethe. He was always frail when he grew up and did not attend public school. He had his first music lesson when he was fifteen with the Weimar Kapellmeister Karl Eberwein.''Die Warte.'' Supplement des ''

Luxemburger Wort ''Luxemburger Wort'' is a German-language Luxembourgish daily newspaper. There is an English edition named the ''Luxembourg Times''. History and profile ''Luxemburger Wort'' has been published since 1848. The paper was founded just three days ...

.'' 13. Januar 2011, S. 7–10. Later,

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include sym ...

taught him to play the piano, because he showed musical talent. He achieved little success with his songs and operas, weighted down by his name. In 1825, Weimar City Council awarded him, his father and his brother civil rights of residence in Weimar in perpetuity.Karl Robert Mandelkow: ''Goethes Briefe. Hamburger Ausgabe in vier Bänden.'' Bd. 4: ''Briefe der Jahre 1821–1832.'' 2. Auflage. Christian Wegner Verlag, Hamburg 1976, S. 575. Above all in 1842, he opposed the suggestion of the

German Confederation The German Confederation (german: Deutscher Bund, ) was an association of 39 predominantly German-speaking sovereign states in Central Europe. It was created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 as a replacement of the former Holy Roman Empire, w ...

to acquire 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 Weimar and the estate of the poet for the nation. He lived mainly in the attic of the Goethe House. In 1859, he and his brother were made

(Baron). In 1864, Goethe became a member of the

Freies Deutsches Hochstift The Freies Deutsches Hochstift (Free German Foundation) is a literary association based in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. It is the owner of the Goethe House, the place where the playwright and poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was born and spent his ...

, the academic society which had purchased his father's childhood home in 1863.{{Cite book , last=Adler , first=Fritz , title=Das Freie Deutsche Hochstift. Seine Geschichte 1859-1885 , year=1959 , location=Frankfurt , pages=47 , language=de Goethe died 1885 on a journey to

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

. As stated in his will, the Goethe House, together with the library and extensive collection, was bequeathed to the state of

Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (german: Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach) was a historical German state, created as a duchy in 1809 by the merger of the Ernestine duchies of Saxe-Weimar and Saxe-Eisenach, which had been in personal union since 1741. It was ra ...

. This allowed the Goethe Museum to be founded. Goethe was the last descendant of the poet and, like his brother and sister, had no descendants. His gravestone states: "With him ends Goethe's dynasty, the name will last forever."

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