Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

German poet, playwright, novelist, statesman, and natural philosopher who led Weimar Classicism and authored the two-part tragedy Faust.

Specifications & Metrics

era: 1749 – 1832 (Sturm und Drang & Weimar Classicism)
language: German
region: Frankfurt and Weimar, Germany
notable works: Faust, The Sorrows of Young Werther, Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship, Theory of Colours

Born in Frankfurt (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832), he won European fame with the Sturm und Drang epistolary novel The Sorrows of Young Werther (1774) before moving to the court of Weimar in 1775.
Partnered with Friedrich Schiller to lead Weimar Classicism, directing the Weimar theatre and authoring Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship (1795–1796) and the two-part tragedy Faust (1808, 1832).
Served on the Duke of Saxe-Weimar's privy council and pursued natural science, publishing the botanical treatise Metamorphosis of Plants (1790) and Theory of Colours (1810).