
author
1749–1832
One of the towering figures of European literature, this German writer gave the world Faust and The Sorrows of Young Werther. His work ranges from lyric poetry and drama to science and philosophy, with a curiosity that still feels strikingly modern.

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
![Faust: Dramatisch dichtstuk van Goethe [deel 1]](/api/img/6638c98b972dc5c80ef7b7cc/cover.jpg)
by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
![Faust [part 1]. Translated Into English in the Original Metres](/api/img/6637f9d3829d50c265d73a88/cover.jpg)
by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
![Faust: Eine Tragödie [erster Teil]](/api/img/6637fcd9829d50c265d7ae7a/cover.jpg)
by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
![[Einleitung zu:] Thomas Carlyle, Leben Schillers](/api/img/6637fb7f829d50c265d77a7c/cover.jpg)
by Thomas Carlyle, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
![Faust: a Tragedy [part 1], Translated from the German of Goethe](/api/img/6637f9c3829d50c265d73816/cover.jpg)
by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
![Faust [première partie]](/api/img/6638c422972dc5c80ef6ee40/cover.jpg)
by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Anni Swan, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Theodor Fontane, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Gottfried Keller, Theodor Storm

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Jakob Michael Reinhold Lenz, James Macpherson

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Friedrich Schiller, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Gräfin zu Augusta Louise Stolberg-Stolberg

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Friedrich Schiller

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Born in Frankfurt am Main in 1749, Goethe became the most influential writer in the German language and one of the defining voices of European literature. He studied law, but his imagination carried him far beyond the courtroom. Early fame came with The Sorrows of Young Werther, a novel that captured intense feeling so powerfully that it became a sensation across Europe.
Goethe spent much of his adult life in Weimar, where he served in public office while continuing to write poetry, plays, fiction, criticism, and scientific works. His interests were remarkably wide: alongside literature, he worked on ideas about botany, color, and the natural world, and he was closely connected with the cultural life of his time.
His masterpiece, Faust, occupied him for much of his life and helped secure his lasting reputation. By the time of his death in Weimar in 1832, Goethe had become a symbol of literary breadth and intellectual ambition, admired not just as a poet and novelist, but as a writer who seemed determined to explore every part of human experience.