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82-475: Goethe wrote in 1820 The enormous size of the granite blocks, piled on one another without rhyme or reason gives an impression the like of which I have never come across on all my walks and no-one can be blamed for explaining this chaotic state of affairs that excites astonishment, fear and dread, by calling on the help of floods and cloudbursts, storms and earthquakes, volcanoes and whatever else nature may violently conjure up. However on closer inspection, and with

164-515: A broken heart : "I shall say nothing of...Charlotte's grief. ... Charlotte's life was despaired of." Werther was one of Goethe's few works aligned with the aesthetic, social and philosophical ideals that pervaded the German proto- Romantic movement known as Sturm und Drang , before he and Friedrich von Schiller moved into Weimar Classicism . The novel was published anonymously, and Goethe distanced himself from it in his later years, regretting

246-522: 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 titled Götz von Berlichingen , and the work struck a chord among Goethe's contemporaries. Since Goethe could not subsist on his income as one of the editors of a literary periodical (published by Schlosser and Merck), in May 1772 he once more took up

328-605: A deep emotional bond with the Polish pianist Maria Szymanowska , 33 at the time, and she 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 to Mozart in the following conversation between Goethe and Zelter: "Musical prodigies ... are probably no longer so rare; but what this little man can do in extemporizing and playing at sight borders

410-463: A detailed knowledge of that which nature, acting quietly and patiently, is able to do in a most extraordinary way, another solution to this puzzle offers itself to us (...) The well-rounded shapes of the individual blocks were formed by spheroidal weathering ( Wollsackverwitterung ) in the tropical, humid climate of the Cenozoic era. Over the course of time they were left behind as the ground around

492-411: A devotion to the theater, and was greatly fascinated by the puppet shows that were annually arranged by occupying French Soldiers at his home and which later became a recurrent theme in his literary work Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship . He also took great pleasure in reading works on history and religion. Of this period he wrote: I had from childhood the singular habit of always learning by heart

574-412: A few months, this put an early end to his law career. Around this time, Goethe became acquainted with the court of Darmstadt , where his inventiveness was praised. It was from that world that there 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 object, and even helped. Goethe obtained

656-461: A general confession, joyous and free and entitled to a new life”. For Goethe the Werther effect was a cathartic one, freeing himself from the despair in his life. The book reputedly also led to some of the first known examples of copycat suicide . The men were often dressed in the same clothing "as Goethe's description of Werther and using similar pistols." Often the book was found at the scene of

738-686: A great admirer of Goethe's in his early youth, sending him some of his earlier works with praising cover notes. The meeting is said to be of a strikingly unsuccessful nature, with Heine completely omitting the meeting in the Harzreise , and speaking flippantly of it in much later life. In 1832, Goethe died in Weimar of apparent heart failure. He is buried in the Ducal Vault at Weimar's Historical Cemetery . The last words of Goethe usually abridged as Mehr Licht! , that is, "more light!", although

820-455: 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 , the sister of Christian A. Vulpius and daughter of archivist Johann Friedrich Vulpius (1725–1786), and their son August von Goethe . On 13 October, Napoleon 's army invaded

902-419: 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 ( The First Walpurgis Night , Op. 60, 1832). Heinrich Heine , on his hiking tour through Germany (the trip immortalised in his work Die Harzreise ) was granted an audience with Goethe in 1824 in Weimar. Heine had been

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984-448: A passage of his own translation of Ossian . Even before that incident, Werther had hinted at the idea that one member of the love triangle – Charlotte, Albert or Werther himself – had to die to resolve the situation. Unable to hurt anyone else or seriously consider murder, Werther sees no other choice but to take his own life. After composing a farewell letter to be found after his death, he writes to Albert asking for his two pistols, on

1066-520: A respectable citizen. The Hebrew translation יסורי ורתר הצעיר was popular among youths in the Zionist communities in British Mandate of Palestine in the 1930s and 1940s and was blamed for the suicide of several young men considered to have emulated Werther. Goethe, however, was not pleased with the "Freuden" and started a literary war with Nicolai that lasted all his life, writing

1148-401: A satirical piece with a happy ending, entitled Die Freuden des jungen Werthers (" The Joys of Young Werther "), in which Albert, having realized what Werther is up to, loaded chicken's blood into the pistol, thereby foiling Werther's suicide, and happily concedes Charlotte to him. After some initial difficulties, Werther sheds his passionate youthful side and reintegrates himself into society as

1230-629: 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. The Sorrows of Young Werther The Sorrows of Young Werther ( [ˈveːɐ̯tɐ] ; German : Die Leiden des jungen Werthers ), or simply Werther ,

1312-664: 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 . Thus Goethe's journey had something of the nature of a pilgrimage to it. During the course of his trip Goethe met and befriended the artists Angelica Kauffman and Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein , as well as encountering such notable characters as Lady Hamilton and Alessandro Cagliostro . He also journeyed to Sicily during this time, and wrote that "To have seen Italy without having seen Sicily

1394-408: A time when ‘Werther’ seemed as if it had been written for him alone.”" The Sorrows of Young Werther turned Goethe, previously an unknown author, into a literary celebrity almost overnight. Napoleon Bonaparte considered it one of the great works of European literature, having written a Goethe-inspired soliloquy in his youth and carried Werther with him on his campaigning to Egypt . It also started

1476-418: A wealthy Worms merchant's daughter and friend of his sister, who would later marry the merchant G. F. Schuler. 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 university professor and poet Christian Fürchtegott Gellert . In Leipzig, Goethe fell in love with Anna Katharina Schönkopf ,

1558-596: Is a 1774 epistolary novel by Johann Wolfgang Goethe , which appeared as a revised edition in 1787. It was one of the main novels in the Sturm und Drang period in German literature , and influenced the later Romantic movement. Goethe, aged 24 at the time, finished Werther in five and a half weeks of intensive writing in January to March 1774. It instantly placed him among the foremost international literary celebrities and

1640-449: Is disputed as Vogel was not in the room at the moment Goethe died, something he himself says in his account: " [...] "More light" is said to have been the last words of the man, who always hated darkness in every respect, as I had left the dying room for a moment. [...] " Thomas Carlyle , in his letter to John Carlyle (2 July 1832) records that he had learned the version Macht die Fensterladen auf, damit ich mehr Licht bekomme! ("Open

1722-490: Is not tolerated and asked to leave since he is not a nobleman. He then returns to Wahlheim, where he suffers still more than before, partly because Charlotte and Albert are now married. Every day becomes a torturing reminder that Charlotte will never be able to requite his love. She, out of pity for her friend and respect for her husband, decides that Werther must not visit her so frequently. He visits her one final time, and they are both overcome with emotion after he recites to her

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1804-682: Is thus convinced that the Soldans were Hungarians from the Maramureș region. However, noble families with the name Soldan can also be found in Prussia and Sweden , so a possible German origin of the family should not be excluded. The family might have first become Hungarian in Maramureș and then Romanian in Moldavia . Goethe's grandfather, Friedrich Georg Goethe  [ de ] (1657–1730) moved from Thuringia in 1687 and changed

1886-499: 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

1968-472: 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 ;

2050-581: 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 . He also contributed to the planning of Weimar's botanical park and the rebuilding of its Ducal Palace . Goethe's first major scientific work,

2132-508: 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 Karl 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

2214-736: The Holy Roman Empire . 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. Johann Caspar married Goethe's mother, Catharina Elisabeth Textor (1731–1808), 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 (1750–1777), died at an early age. The young Goethe received from his father and private tutors lessons in subjects common at

2296-782: The idyll of Hermann and Dorothea , the Roman Elegies and the verse drama The Natural Daughter . In the last period, between Schiller's death, in 1805, and his own, appeared Faust Part One (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

2378-530: The Duchy's chancellor of the 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 and the principal representative of the Duchy. Goethe was ennobled in 1782 (this being indicated by the " von " in his name). In that same year, Goethe moved into what was his primary residence in Weimar for the next 50 years. As head of

2460-749: The Saxe-Weimar War Commission, Goethe participated in the recruitment of mercenaries into the Prussian and British military during the American Revolution. The author Daniel Wilson claims that Goethe engaged in negotiating the forced sale of vagabonds, criminals, and political dissidents as part of these activities. 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

2542-486: The beginnings of books, and the divisions of a work, first of the five books of Moses , and then of the Aeneid and Ovid 's Metamorphoses . ... If an ever active imagination, of which that tale may bear witness, led me hither and thither, if the medley of fable and history, mythology and religion, threatened to bewilder me, I readily fled to those oriental regions, and plunged into the first books of Moses, and there, amid

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2624-665: The cellar against the wild pillaging soldiery was her work. Goethe noted in his diary: "Fires, rapine, a frightful night... Preservation of the house through steadfastness and luck." The luck was Goethe's, the steadfastness was displayed by Christiane. Days afterward, on 19 October 1806, Goethe legitimized their 18-year relationship by marrying Christiane in a quiet marriage service at the Jakobskirche in Weimar. 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 (1796–1872), cared for

2706-417: The comedy Die Mitschuldigen . The inn Auerbachs Keller and its legend of Johann Georg Faust 's 1525 barrel ride impressed him so much that Auerbachs Keller became the only real place in his closet drama Faust Part One . Given that he was making little progress in his formal studies, Goethe was forced to return to Frankfurt at the end of August 1768. Back in Frankfurt, Goethe became severely ill. During

2788-621: The daughter of a craftsman and innkeeper, writing cheerful verses about her in the Rococo genre. In 1770, he released anonymously his first collection of poems, Annette . His uncritical admiration for many contemporary poets evaporated as he developed an interest in Gotthold Ephraim Lessing and Christoph Martin Wieland . By this time, Goethe had already written a great deal, but he discarded nearly all of these works except for

2870-539: The death of his first wife in 1705 he married Cornelia Schellhorn, née Walther (1668–1754), widow of the innkeeper Johannes Schellhorn (died 1704), with whom he had four more children, including Johann Caspar Goethe, father of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Goethe's father, Johann Caspar Goethe (1710–1782), lived with his family in a large house (today the Goethe House ) in Frankfurt , then a free imperial city of

2952-452: The ducal library. He was, moreover, the Duke's friend and chief adviser . In 1776, Goethe formed a close relationship with Charlotte von Stein , a married woman seven years older than him. 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. Aside from his official duties, Goethe

3034-661: The elder Goethe until his death in 1832. August and Ottilie had three children: Walther, Freiherr von Goethe (1818–1885), Wolfgang, Freiherr von Goethe (1820–1883) and Alma von Goethe (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." After 1793, Goethe devoted his endeavours primarily to literature. In 1812, he travelled to Teplice and Vienna both times meeting his admirer Ludwig van Beethoven , who had set music to Egmont two years prior in 1810. By 1820, Goethe

3116-522: The end of August 1771, Goethe acquired the academic degree of the Licentiate in Law from Strasbourg and was able to establish a small legal practice in Frankfurt. Although in his academic work he had given voice to an ambition to make jurisprudence progressively more humane, his inexperience led him to proceed too vigorously in his first cases, for which he was reprimanded and lost further clientele. Within

3198-443: The experience. A second construction phase took place between 1811 and 1815. The Luisenburg developed into a jewel of civic culture and landscape architecture. The terrain was used in 1794 for the singspiel Die kleine Ährenleserin by Johann Adam Hiller and Christian Felix Weiße . Today the rock labyrinth is a popular destination and can be appreciated by anyone with stout footwear. Children also enjoy climbing and crawling over

3280-474: The fame it had brought him and the consequent attention to his own youthful love of Charlotte Buff , then already engaged to Johann Christian Kestner . Although he wrote Werther at the age of 24, it was all for which some of his visitors in his old age knew him. Goethe had changed his views of literature radically by then, even denouncing the Romantic movement as "everything that is sick." Goethe described

3362-423: The fictional village of Wahlheim (based on Garbenheim  [ de ; it ; nl ] , near Wetzlar ), whose peasants have enchanted him with their simple ways. There he meets Charlotte, a beautiful young girl who takes care of her siblings after the death of their mother. Werther falls in love with Charlotte despite knowing beforehand that she is engaged to a man named Albert, eleven years her senior. Despite

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3444-463: The first prince of independent Moldavia, Bogdan I , and then Romanised their name. Historians Radu Rosetti and Gheorghe Ghibănescu also argue that in the charter from 1411 the family name is written before the first name, this being a custom only in Hungarian documents. Moreover, the first name of Peter's brother, Miclaus, could come from the Hungarian form of Nicholas, which is Miklós. Rosetti

3526-590: 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 . 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 . In late 1792, Goethe took part in

3608-657: The four greatest novels ever written, while the American philosopher and essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson selected Goethe as one of six "representative men" in his work of the same name (along with Plato , Emanuel Swedenborg , Montaigne , Napoleon , and Shakespeare ). Goethe's comments and observations form the basis of several biographical works, notably Johann Peter Eckermann 's Conversations with Goethe (1836). His poems were set to music by many composers including Mozart , Beethoven , Schubert , Berlioz , Liszt , Wagner , and Mahler . Through his maternal grandmother,

3690-420: The head with a pistol borrowed from Kestner. The novel was adapted as the opera Werther by Jules Massenet in 1892. Most of The Sorrows of Young Werther , a story about a young man's extreme response to unrequited love , is presented as a collection of letters written by Werther, a young artist of a sensitive and passionate temperament, to his friend Wilhelm. These give an intimate account of his stay in

3772-439: The last words of Goethe, 'Open the window, let us have more light' (this about an hour before painless death, his eyes failing him)." Even though the context was different, these words, especially the abridged version, which turned into a dictum, usually used as a mean to illustrate the pro-Enlightenment worldview of Goethe. The first production of Richard Wagner 's opera Lohengrin took place in Weimar in 1850. The conductor

3854-426: The latter case, 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 since the protection later afforded by copyright laws at that time virtually did not exist. (In later years Goethe would counter this problem by periodically authorizing "new, revised" editions of his Complete Works .) In 1775, on

3936-490: The miraculous, and I could not have believed it possible at so early an age." "And yet you heard Mozart in his seventh year at Frankfurt?" said Zelter. "Yes", answered Goethe, "... but what your pupil already accomplishes, bears the same relation to the Mozart of that time that the cultivated talk of a grown-up person bears to the prattle of a child." Mendelssohn was invited to meet Goethe on several later occasions, and set

4018-486: The much-talked-of ‘Werther’ period, we discover that it does not belong to the course of universal culture, but to the career of life in every individual, who, with an innate free natural instinct, must accommodate himself to the narrow limits of an antiquated world. Obstructed fortune, restrained activity, unfulfilled wishes, are not the calamities of any particular time, but those of every individual man; and it would be bad, indeed, if every one had not, once in his life, known

4100-413: The name Luxburg , which was changed in 1805 to Luisenburg . Visitors to the site had to stoop or even crawl if they wanted to explore its natural beauty. For the nobility of the time this was a rare posture that for many of them gave it an additional charm. In 1805 the Prussian queen visited the prehistoric, natural wonder with her husband, Frederick William III and, totally spellbound, told her son about

4182-666: The notion of Volkspoesie (folk poetry). On 14 October 1772 Goethe hosted a gathering in his parents home in honour of the first German "Shakespeare Day". His first acquaintance with Shakespeare's works is described as his personal awakening in the field of literature. On a trip to the village of Sessenheim in October 1770, Goethe fell in love with Friederike Brion , but the tryst ended in August 1771. Several of Goethe's poems, like " Willkommen und Abschied ", " Sesenheimer Lieder " and " Heidenröslein ", date to this period. At

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4264-442: The original claimed last words quote was longer. The earliest known account was of Karl Wilhelm Müller's, which gives all of his last words: "Macht doch den zweiten Fensterladen in der Stube auch auf, damit mehr Licht hereinkomme." ("Open the second shutter in the living room so that more light comes in.") According to his doctor Carl Vogel  [ de ] , his last words were, Mehr Licht! (More light!), but this

4346-465: The outbreak in Vienna, at age 16. 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 do. The most important of Goethe's works produced before he went to Weimar were Götz von Berlichingen (1773), a tragedy that

4428-408: The pain it causes him, Werther spends the next few months cultivating a close friendship with them both. His sorrow eventually becomes so unbearable that he is forced to leave Wahlheim for Weimar, where he makes the acquaintance of Fräulein von B. He suffers great embarrassment when he forgetfully visits a friend and unexpectedly has to face there the weekly gathering of the entire aristocratic set. He

4510-459: The phenomenon known as "Werther Fever," which caused young men throughout Europe to dress in the clothing style described for Werther in the novel. Items of merchandising such as prints, decorated Meissen porcelain and even a perfume were produced. Thomas Carlyle coined an epithet, "Wertherism", to describe the self-indulgency of the age that the phenomenon represented. When Goethe completed Werther, he likened his mood to one experienced “after

4592-480: The powerful impact the book had on him, writing that even if Werther had been a brother of his whom he had killed, he could not have been more haunted by his vengeful ghost . Yet, Goethe substantially reworked the book for the 1787 edition and acknowledged the great personal and emotional influence that The Sorrows of Young Werther could exert on forlorn young lovers who discovered it. He later commented to his secretary Johann Peter Eckermann on January 2, 1824 (as it

4674-482: The practice of law, this time at Wetzlar . In 1774 he wrote the book which would bring him worldwide fame, The Sorrows of Young Werther . The broad shape of the work's plot is largely based on what Goethe experienced during his time at Wetzlar with Charlotte Buff (1753–1828) and her fiancé, Johann Christian Kestner (1741–1800), as well as the suicide of the Goethes' friend Karl Wilhelm Jerusalem (1747–1772). In

4756-417: The pretext that he is going "on a journey". Charlotte receives the request with great emotion and sends the pistols. Werther then shoots himself in the head, but does not die until twelve hours later. He is buried between two linden trees that he had mentioned frequently in his letters. The funeral is not attended by any clergy, or by Albert or Charlotte. The book ends with an intimation that Charlotte may die of

4838-421: The renowned theatre company of Abel Seyler until a 1774 fire had destroyed Schloss Weimar . Karl August came of age when he turned eighteen in 1775, although his mother continued to be a major presence at the court. So it was that Goethe took up residence in Weimar , 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

4920-579: The renowned German poet and writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe belonged to the descendants of the Soldan family and thus had Turkish ancestry. Bernt Engelmann has said that "the German poet prince [i.e. Goethe] with oriental ancestors is by no means a rare exception." Nicolae Iorga believes that the Soldan family were originally Hungarian nobles who settled in Moldavia from Transylvania together with

5002-627: The rocks. In 2006 the rock labyrinth was awarded the status of a national geotope. The site is owned and maintained by Wunsiedel town council (forestry department). They charge an entry price of EUR 7.00 for adults (as of September 2023) (with reductions for children, etc.), which is used for the care and preservation of this natural monument . 50°00′43″N 11°59′32″E  /  50.01208°N 11.99209°E  / 50.01208; 11.99209 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832)

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5084-518: The scattered shepherd tribes, found myself at once in the greatest solitude and the greatest society. Goethe also became acquainted with Frankfurt actors. Valerian Tornius wrote: Goethe – Leben, Wirken und Schaffen . In early literary attempts Goethe showed an infatuation with Gretchen , who would later reappear in his Faust , and the adventures with whom he would describe concisely in Dichtung und Wahrheit . He adored Caritas Meixner (1750–1773),

5166-408: The shutters so I can get more light!") from Sarah Austin : "[...] Mrs. Austin wrote lately that Goethe's last words were, Macht die Fensterladen auf, damit ich mehr Licht bekomme! Glorious man! Happy man! I never think of him but with reverence and pride. [...]" John Ruskin , in his Præterita , narrates a memory of him from his diary record of 25 October 1874 that Carlyle "[...] had been quoting

5248-424: The spelling of his surname (from Göthe to Goethe). In Frankfurt, he first worked as a tailor, then opened a tavern. His son and grandchildren subsequently lived on the fortune he earned. Friedrich Georg Goethe was married twice, his first marriage was to Anna Elisabeth Lutz (1667–1700), the daughter of a burgher Sebastian Lutz (died 1701), with whom he had five children, including Hermann Jakob Goethe (1697–1761), after

5330-427: The strength of his fame as the author of The Sorrows of Young Werther , Goethe was invited to the court of Karl August, Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach , who later became Grand Duke in 1815. The Duke's mother, Duchess Anna Amalia , had been the long-time regent on behalf of her son until 1775 and was one of the most important patrons of the arts in her day, making her court into a centre of the arts. Her court had hosted

5412-426: The success of his first novel, The Sorrows of Young Werther (1774), and joined a thriving intellectual and cultural environment under the patronage of Duchess Anna Amalia that had already included Abel Seyler 's theatre company and Christoph Martin Wieland , and that formed the basis of Weimar Classicism . He was ennobled by the Duke of Saxe-Weimar , Karl August , in 1782. Goethe was an early participant in

5494-626: The suicide. Rüdiger Safranski , a modern biographer of Goethe, dismisses the Werther Effect "as only a persistent rumor." Nonetheless, this aspect of "Werther Fever" was watched with concern by the authorities – both the novel and the Werther clothing style were banned in Leipzig in 1775; the novel was also banned in Denmark and Italy. It was also watched with fascination by fellow authors. One of these, Friedrich Nicolai , decided to create

5576-500: The time, especially languages ( Latin , 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 every advantage he had missed. Although Goethe's great passion was drawing, he quickly became interested in literature; Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock (1724–1803) and Homer were among his early favorites. He also had

5658-497: The town. The French "spoon guards", the least disciplined soldiers, occupied Goethe's house: The 'spoon guards' had broken in, they had drunk wine, made a great uproar and called for the master of the house. Goethe's secretary Riemer reports: 'Although already undressed and wearing only his wide nightgown... he descended the stairs towards them and inquired what they wanted from him.... His dignified figure, commanding respect, and his spiritual mien seemed to impress even them.' But it

5740-490: 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 , Wilhelm von Humboldt , and August and Friedrich Schlegel have come to be collectively termed Weimar Classicism . The German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer named Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship one of

5822-679: The year and a half that followed, marked by several relapses, relations 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, this time at the University of Strasbourg . In Alsace , Goethe blossomed. No other landscape was to be described by him as affectionately as the warm, wide Rhineland. In Strasbourg, Goethe met Johann Gottfried Herder . The two became close friends, and crucially to Goethe's intellectual development, Herder kindled his interest in William Shakespeare , Ossian and in

5904-466: The years at Weimar before he met Schiller in 1794, he began Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship and wrote the dramas Iphigenie auf Tauris ( Iphigenia in Tauris ), Egmont , 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 ),

5986-411: Was Franz Liszt , who chose the date 28 August in honour of Goethe, who was born on 28 August 1749. Goethe had five children with Christiane Vulpius. Only their eldest son, August, survived into adulthood. One child was stillborn, while the others died early. Through his son August and daughter-in-law Ottilie, Johann had three grandchildren: Walther, Wolfgang and Alma. Alma died of typhoid fever during

6068-607: Was a German polymath , who is widely regarded as the greatest and most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a profound and wide-ranging influence on Western literary , political , and philosophical thought from the late 18th century to the present day. A poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic, his works include plays, poetry and aesthetic criticism , as well as treatises on botany , anatomy , and color. Goethe took up residence in Weimar in November 1775 following

6150-595: 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

6232-424: Was among the best known of his works. The novel is made up of biographical and auto-biographical facts in relation to two triangular relationships and one individual: Goethe, Christian Kestner, and Charlotte Buff (who married Kestner); Goethe, Peter Anton Brentano, Maximiliane von La Roche (who married Brentano), and Karl Wilhelm Jerusalem , who died by suicide on the night of Oct 29 or 30, 1772. He shot himself in

6314-490: Was eroded; they became unstable and began to shift. This resulted in the jumble of rocks with wild, romantic paths through the narrow clefts and steep steps. The jumble of rocks (a blockfield ) named after Queen Louise was already being exploited for tourism in the 18th century and it is also well-known today as a result of the natural amphitheatre surrounded by rocks as well as the annual Luisenburg Pageant that take place there. The concept of opening it up and exploiting it

6396-708: Was heavily influenced by the Society for the Portrayal of the History, Customs and Rights of the Fatherland ( Gesellschaft zur Aufklärung vaterländischer Geschichte, Sitte und Rechte ) established in Wunsiedel in 1784. The local townsfolk began around 1790 to turn the rocky area into a landscape garden. The first construction phase lasted until about 1800 and, referring to remnants of an ancient motte nearby, resulted in

6478-515: Was not to last long. Late at night they burst into his bedroom with drawn bayonets. Goethe was petrified, Christiane raised a lot of noise and even tangled with them, other people who had taken refuge in Goethe's house rushed in, and so the marauders eventually withdrew again. It was Christiane who commanded and organized the defense of the house on the Frauenplan. The barricading of the kitchen and

6560-522: 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

6642-455: Was recorded by Eckermann and published in his book, Gespräche mit Goethe ): "(Sup.) Fri., Jan. 2. (...) The conversation now turned on “Werther.” “That,” said Goethe, “is a creation which I, like the pelican, fed with the blood of my own heart. It contains so much from the innermost recesses of my breast—so much feeling and thought, that it might easily be spread into a novel of ten such volumes. [...] (...) “On considering more closely

6724-422: Was the first work to bring him recognition, and the novel The Sorrows of Young Werther (German: Die Leiden des jungen Werthers ) (1774), which gained him enormous fame as a writer in the Sturm und Drang period which marked the early phase of Romanticism . 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

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