J. W. von Goethe
1749 Frankfurt
1832 Weimar
On 28 August 1749 Wolfgang von Goethe was born in Frankfurt. As a teenager Goethe wrote his first witty and edifying contemporary poems. In the autumn of 1765 Goethe left Frankfurt in order to study law in Leipzig. Aged 17 he fell in love with Kätchen Schönkopf and wrote poetry and his first plays. In August 1768 Goethe returned home to Frankfurt. His first collection of poetry appeared in 1769. In 1770 he traveled to Strasbourg where he met Herder. In order to do an internship at the Reichskammerngericht he went to Wetzlar in 1772 where he fell in love with Charlotte Buff. It turned out to be a happyless and one-sided love. Influenced by the feelings of this relationship he started to write "The Sorrows of Young Werther". When the book was published in 1779 it became a bestseller overnight. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe became engaged with Anna Elisabeth "Lilli" Schönemann in Frankfurt in 1775. This was also the year in which Goethe met Charlotte von Stein. Goethe moved to Weimar. On the return from his spa holiday in Karlsbad in 1786, Goethe secretly and under a false name went to Italy where he stayed for two years. Back from Italy, Goethe met Christine Vulpius, who was only 23 years old, and fell in love with her. In 1789 their first son August was born. In 1806 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe finished the first part of "Faust", the second part was finished in 1831. He died around noontime on the 22 March, 1832.
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