Goethe is the only German literary figure whose range and international standing equal those ofGermany’ssupreme philosophers (who have often drawn on his works and ideas) and composers (who have often set his works to music). In the literarycultureof the German-speaking countries, he has had...
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, and critic who was considered the greatest German literary figure of the modern era. He is especially known for the drama Faust, considered by some to be Germany’s most
Johann Peter Eckermann was a German writer, chiefly remembered as the assistant and close associate of the aging author J.W. von Goethe; his Gespräche mit Goethe in den letzten Jahren seines Lebens, 1823–32, 3 vol. (1836–48; “Conversations with Goe