From 1794, he had devoted himself chiefly to literature and after a life of extraordinary productivity died while in Weimar, in 1832. By 1820, he was on friendly terms with Kaspar Maria von Sternberg. He took part in the Napoleonic wars against the First French Empire, and in the following began a friendship with Friedrich Schiller, which lasted until the latter’s death, in 1805. From 1786 to 1788, he travelled in the Italian peninsula (Italian Journey), before which his previous admission he was “a decided non-Christian” was of relative significance, as was his journey, for his future aesthetic, philosophic outlook that would later develop. At the invitation of Carl August, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, he went, in 1775, to live in Weimar where he held a succession of political offices, even becoming the Duke’s chief adviser. In 1772, he began the practice of law at Wetzlar. The young Goethe studied at the University of Leipzig and the University of Strasbourg. His father was a man of means and position who personally supervised the early education of his son.

Goethe was born in Frankfurt am Main, in the Holy Roman Empire, to Johann Caspar Goethe and his wife Catharina Elisabeth Textor. Goethe’s influence spread across Europe, and for the next century his works were a primary source of inspiration in music, drama, poetry, and even philosophy.

The author of Faust and Theory of Colours, he inspired Darwin with his independent discovery of the human premaxilla jaw bones and focus on evolutionary ideas. Goethe was one of the paramount figures of German literature and the movement of German classicism in the late 18th and early 19th centuries this movement coincides with Enlightenment, Sturm und Drang, Sensibility (“Empfindsamkeit”), and Romanticism, in all of which he participated to varying degrees. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (IPA: ˈgøːtə ( Goethe Society pronunciation)), born Johann Wolfgang Goethe (28 August 1749–22 March 1832) was a German polymath: he was a painter, novelist, dramatist, poet, humanist, scientist, philosopher, and for ten years chief minister of state at Weimar.

The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus (Marlowe).

Conversations with Eckermann, 1823-1832.

Timeline of Cards, Cartomancy, and Tarot.

All the Year Round on Cagliostro-Part 2.All the Year Round on Cagliostro-Part 1.

Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe