JohannWol fgangv onGoethe[a]( 28August1749–22Mar ch1832) [

3]wasaGer manpoet ,
play
wright,novelist,sci
enti
st,statesman, theat
redi
rect
or,crit
ic,
andamat eurart
ist.
[3]Hisworks
i
nclude:fournov els;epi
candl yr i
cpoet r
y;proseandver
sedr amas; memoirs;anautobiography;
l
iter
aryandaest het i
ccrit
ici
sm; andt r
eati
sesonbotany,anatomy ,andcol
our.Hei sconsidered
tobethegr eatestGer manliteraryfigureofthemodernera.[3]

JohannWol
fgangv
onGoet
he

Goet
hei
n1828,
byJosephKar
lSt
iel
er

Goet
hei
n1828,
byJosephKar
lSt
iel
er

Bor
n

JohannWol
fgangGoet
he

28August1749

Fr
eeI
mper
ial
Cit
yofFr
ankf
urt
,Hol
yRomanEmpi
re

Di
ed

22Mar
ch1832(
aged82)

Wei
mar
,Gr
andDuchyofSaxe-
Wei
mar
-Ei
senach,
Ger
manConf
eder
ati
on

Occupat
ion

Poet
,nov
eli
st,
play
wri
ght
,nat
ural
phi
l
osopher
,di
plomat
,ci
vi
lser
vant

Al
mamat
er

Lei
pzi
gUni
ver
sit
y

Uni
ver
sit
yofSt
rasbour
g

Li
ter
arymov
ement

St
urm undDr
ang

Wei
marCl
assi
cism

Romant
ici
sm i
nsci
ence

Not
abl
ewor
ks

Faust
TheSor
rowsofYoungWer
ther

Wi
l
hel
m Mei
ster
'sAppr
ent
iceshi
p

El
ect
iveAf
fi
nit
ies

"
Promet
heus"

ZurFar
benl
ehr
e

I
tal
i
eni
scheRei
se

West
–öst
li
cherDi
van

Spouse

Chr
ist
ianeVul
pius

(
​
m.1806;
died1816)
​

Chi
l
dren

5(
4di
edy
oung)

Rel
ati
ves

Cor
nel
i
aSchl
osser(
sist
er)

Chr
ist
ianAugustVul
pius(
brot
her
-i
n-l
aw)

Si
gnat
ure

Aliter
arycel ebri
tybytheageof25, Goethewasennobl edbyt heDukeofSaxe- Weimar,Karl
August ,i
n1782af t
ertakingupr esidenceinWei marinNov ember1775f ol
lowingthesuccessof
hisfir
stnov el,TheSorrowsofYoungWer t
her(1774).Hewasanear l
ypar t
ici
pantintheSturm
undDr angliterarymovement .Dur i
nghi sfir
sttenyearsinWei mar, Goethebecameamemberof
theDuke' spr i
vycouncil
,satont hewarandhi ghwaycommi ssions, oversawt hereopeni
ngof
sil
vermi nesi nnearbyIl
menau, andi mpl ementedaser i
esofadmi nistr
ativereformsatthe
Universit
yofJena.Heal socontributedt otheplanni
ngofWei mar'sbot anicalparkandthe
rebuil
dingofi tsDucalPalace.[
4][b]

Goet
he'
sfi
rstmaj
orsci
enti
fi
cwork,t
heMetamor
phosi
sofPl
ant
s,waspubl
i
shedaft
erhe
r
etur
nedfr
om a1788tourofI
tal
y.I
n1791hewasmademanagi
ngdir
ect
oroft
hetheat
reat
Weimar,andin1794hebeganaf riendshipwiththedramat ist,
historian,andphilosopher
Fri
edri
chSchil
ler,whoseplayshepr emieredunti
lSchil
ler'
sdeat hin1805.Dur ingthisperiod
Goethepubli
shedhissecondnov el,Wilhel
m Meister'
sAppr enticeship; t
hev er
seepi cHermann
andDorothea,and,i
n1808, thefir
stpar tofhismostcel ebrateddr ama, Faust.Hisconversations
andvari
ousshar edunder
takingst hroughoutthe1790swi thSchi l
l
er,JohannGot tl
iebFichte,
JohannGottfr
iedHerder,
Al exanderv onHumbol dt,
[5]Wi l
helmv onHumbol dt,
andAugustand
Fri
edri
chSchlegelhavecomet obecol lecti
vel
ytermedWei marCl assi ci
sm.

TheGer manphil
osopherAr t
hurSchopenhauernamedWi lhelm Meister'
sApprenticeshiponeof
thefourgr
eatestnovelseverwri
tten,[
6][
c]whil
etheAmer icanphi l
osopherandessay istRal
ph
WaldoEmer sonselect
edGoet heasoneofsi x"repr
esentativemen"i nhisworkoft hesame
name( al
ongwithPlato,Emanuel Swedenborg,Montai
gne, Napoleon, andShakespear e)
.
Goethe'
scomment sandobser vationsformthebasisofsev eralbi
ographicalworks,notabl
y
JohannPeterEckermann'sConv ersat
ionswithGoethe(1836) .

Li
fe

Li
ter
arywor
k

Sci
ent
if
icwor
k

Er
oti
ci
sm

Rel
i
gionandpol
i
tics

I
nfl
uence

Wor
ks

Booksr
elat
edt
oGoet
he

Seeal
so

Ref
erences

Ext
ernal
li
nks

Lastedi
ted2day
sagobyKCRoost
ers

Cont
enti
sav
ail
abl
eunderCCBY-
SA3.
0unl
essot
her
wisenot
ed.

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ivacypol
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cyTer
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