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 figures of European literature. His work ranged across poetry, plays, novels, criticism, and scientific study, giving him a rare place as both a literary artist and a true polymath.

He first gained wide attention with The Sorrows of Young Werther, a novel whose emotional force made it famous across Europe. Later came Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship and, above all, Faust, the vast dramatic work he developed over much of his life and which is often seen as his masterpiece.

Goethe spent much of his career in Weimar, where he also served in public office and worked closely with the cultural life of the court. His friendship with Friedrich Schiller became one of the great literary partnerships of the age. He died in Weimar in 1832, leaving behind a body of work that still feels unusually alive: curious, humane, and open to the whole range of experience.