Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

EARLY YEARS

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, was born in Germany August 28, 1749,  he died March 22, 1832, he was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theather director, critic, and amateur artist, considered the greatest German literary figure of the modern era.

His body of work includes epic and lyric poetry written in a variety of metres and styles; prose and verse dramas; memoirs; an autobiography;

Goethe was the eldest of seven children

During his first ten years in Weimar, Goethe served as a member of the Duke's council, sat on the war and highway commissions and implemented a series of administrative reforms at the University of Jena.

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

He studied law in Leipzig, and later in Strasburg The best moment of his life may well have been the moment he met William

Shakespeare`s work and heard folk poetry, through the guidance of Johann Gottfried Herder

Goethe fell in love with Anna Katharina Schönkopf and wrote cheerful verses about her in the Rococo genre.

In October 1770, on a trip to the village Sessenheim, Goethe fell in love with Friederike Brion, but, after ten months, terminated the relationship.  Several of his poems, like Willkommen und Abschied, Sesenheimer Lieder and Heideröslein, originate from this time.

In 1776, Goethe formed a close relationship to Charlotte von Stein, an older, married woman. The intimate bond with Frau von Stein lasted for ten years, after which Goethe abruptly left for Italy without giving his companion any notice. She was emotionally distraught at the time. 

Meanwhile he had a mistress Christiane with whom he had several children.  He lived with her for 18 years until they eventually married. Christiane von Goethe died in 1816.

The most important of Goethe's works

Goetz von Berlichingen(1773) The Sorrows of Young Werther(called Die Leiden des jungen Werthers in

German) (1774) Sturm und Drang Fausto

The Lovely Night

Now I leave this little hut,Where my beloved lives,

Walking now with veiled stepsThrough the shadowy leaves.

Luna shines through bush and oak,Zephyr proclaims her path,

And the birch trees bowing lowShed incense on her track.How beautiful the coolnessOf this lovely summer night!

How the soul fills with happinessIn this true place of quiet!

I can scarcely grasp the bliss!Yet, Heaven, I would shunA thousand nights like this,If my darling granted one.