Bust of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe at Albertina, Vienna

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Johann Wolfgang Goethe, born on August 28, 1749, and passed away on March 22, 1832, was a prominent German writer and statesman. His extensive body of work encompasses epic and lyric poetry written in diverse metres and styles; prose and verse dramas; memoirs; an autobiography; literary and aesthetic criticism; treatises on botany, anatomy, and colour; and four novels. Moreover, numerous literary and scientific fragments, over 10,000 letters, and nearly 3,000 drawings by him exist. Goethe was a celebrated author by the age of 25 and was ennobled by Karl August, Duke of Saxe-Weimar, in 1782 after initially taking up residence there in November 1775 following the success of his first novel, The Sorrows of Young Werther. He was an early participant in the Sturm und Drang literary movement. During his first ten years in Weimar, Goethe served as a member of Karl August's privy council, sat on the war and highway commissions, oversaw the reopening of silver mines in nearby Ilmenau, and implemented administrative reforms at the University of Jena. He also contributed to the planning of Weimar's botanical park and the rebuilding of its Ducal Palace, which were jointly designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998.