Johann
Wolfgang von Goethe is the most famous internationally
known German author. Together with Friedrich Schiller
they founded German Classical Literature.
He
was born in 1749 in Frankfurt. He came from a rich
bourgeois family. He studied law and literature
in Leipzig and Strasburg. Later, he also studied
natural sciences. He wasn't just integrated in the
cultural life of his time, he was also integrated
in politics.
His
work as an author can be divided into various phrases.
In his young phase, called the Sturm und Drang phase
(Storm and Impulse), his examples were Shakespeare
and Homer. In this era, he identified himself with
the literary movement in protest Sturm- und Drang.
From this era, he wrote "Fauste", his first drama
"Godofredo from Berlichingen" and the novel "The
Sorrows of Young Werther", which made him world
famous.
In
1775 he moved to Weimar where he worked for the
Duke of Weimar Karl-August. In 1775 he was made
minister of the duke of Weimar's court. From 1786
- 1788 he made his famous trip to Italy. There he
met antiquity and the Italian culture. In 1788 he
returned to Weimar.
After
his return, he returned to his classical phase.
In 1791 he started to write for Weimar's Court theatre.
From this era, he wrote the dramas "Tasso" and "Iphigenia
in Tauris".
From
his last phase are the works "Elective Affinities",
"Poetry and truth" and "Italian journey". Just before
his death her finished "Faust Part Two", which was
published later on. Goethe died in 1832 in Weimar.
