He who no longer loves and no longer errs, let him be buried.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe is certainly the most famous writer of German literature.
In January, we want to find out together with you who this man was? What did he think and write? Are his ideas still relevant today and what can we learn from him?
Goethe was a real charmer. During his life, he often fell in love and incorporated his partnerships into his texts. His first great love was Anna Katherina, whom he met in a bar during his student days. In the "Anettenlieder" Goethe describes his attempts at love. But there were too many obstacles: Anna was not only older, but also belonged to a lower class. When his beloved then married another man, Goethe became very ill.
The second wife was Frederike Brion, a pastor's daughter whom he met while studying law. The fierce love between the two was incorporated into his lyrical "Sesenheimer Lieder". But this relationship did not last long either. Goethe simply dumped her. In 1772, the poet fell in love with Charlotte Buff, who was actually already promised to another partner. Goethe tried everything, but could not win more than a kiss. Charlotte was the namesake of Lotte in Goethe's work "The Sorrows of Young Werther", which was a great success at the time.
A few years later, Goethe became engaged to Lili Schönemann, but he quickly left her again, as he did not feel comfortable in the presence of her family. Another important figure for Goethe was Charlotte von Stein, who inspired the writer to write "Iphigenie" and "Eleonore". But she was already married and seemed rather cool to the young Goethe, so the relationship remained platonic in nature.
In 1788, Goethe finally met Christiane Vulpius. This relationship was also accompanied by problems, as Christiane came from a poor background and society did not accept the partnership. Together, however, the two had a son and even married - albeit only after 18 years.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was not only a successful writer, but also a generally very interested man. So it is not surprising that he was also enthusiastic about scientific issues. Thus he also researched botany, mineralogy, anatomy and physics.
To pursue his interest in the human body, he attended medical seminars and took dissection courses, although he was actually enrolled in law. But his enthusiasm for anatomy never left him, so that years after his studies he continued to do research and made a special discovery: he found the intermaxillary bone in the human body, which had already been found in other mammals. Even though this bone had been described several times before by other scientists, this was a great scientific success for Goethe.
Goethe also had a talent for drawing and painting, which also led him to study color, light and shadow. For example, he undertook various experiments to find out the composition of white light. He published all the results extensively, even if they are partially disputed today.
Researches in meteorology were also carried out by the German writer. He studied the wind and air pressure to explain the weather. In addition to the weather, Goethe was also interested in the plant world. His investigations in botany even found their way into his poetry. Thus, he wrote a beautiful poem about the leaf of the ginkgo tree.
