Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was born on 28 August 1749 in Frankfurt. A German writer and statesman, Goethe is regarded as the greatest figure of German literature. He rose to fame with the novel The Sorrows of Young Werther in 1774 and moved to Weimar, where he served the duke as a minister and directed the court theatre. His works include the two-part drama Faust, which occupied him for most of his life, the novel Wilhelm Meister and many poems. He was also a serious scientist, who studied plants, anatomy, geology and the theory of colour. His friendship with Friedrich Schiller gave rise to Weimar Classicism.
Before and after
- 30 August 1748Birth of Jacques-Louis David
- 18 October 1748Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle
- 23 March 1749Birth of Pierre-Simon Laplace
- 17 May 1749Birth of Edward Jenner
- 28 August 1749Birth of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- 1750Founding of Toronto
- c. 1750sRise of Neoclassical architecture
- 28 July 1750Death of Johann Sebastian Bach
- 1751Encyclopédie
More in Science & technology
- 1543De revolutionibus orbium coelestium
- 15 February 1564Birth of Galileo Galilei
- 21 June 1646Birth of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
- October 1684Leibniz publishes the first paper on calculus
- 15 April 1707Birth of Leonhard Euler
- 20 March 1727Death of Isaac Newton
The era
This moment belongs to the Early modern world (1500 CE to 1760 CE), voyages, printing and new ideas. You can also browse everything in the 18th century.