Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
1749-1832
German Writer
Johann Wolfgang Goethe was the last of the great universal scholars. He was the greatest German poet and an outstanding figure in many fields of writing. In addition to criticism, poetry, novels, and plays, his scientific writings filled 14 volumes. In his 82 years he achieved masterful wisdom and accomplishments. He was a strong advocate of natural theology—the finding of God in nature.
Goethe was born August 28, 1749, in Frankfurt am Main, now Germany. At that time Frankfurt was a free city-state. His father, Johann Caspar Goethe, was an attorney who taught his son the intellectual and moral discipline characteristic of the cities of northern Germany. His mother, Katharine Textor Goethe, the daughter of the mayor of Frankfurt, opened up contacts for her son to have artistic and cultural opportunities. Eight children were born to the couple but only Wolfgang and his sister Cornelia survived.
At 16 he went to the University of Leipzig, and although the town was dubbed "Little Paris," he preferred lectures in the foundation of German and moral culture given by C. F. Gellert, poet and author of hymns. Serious illness forced him to leave Leipzig and return home. Here, he came in contact with Pietists circles. The Pietists were a religious group of German Lutherans who combined moral and ethical behavior withreason. He also developed an interest in alchemy as a mystical endeavor and in the newly emerging field of chemistry.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. (Archive Photos. Reproduced with permission.)Recovering from the illness, he went to Strasbourg to finish his law degree, but his illness had given a sentimental mood to his writing. He developed a sublime view of nature and art that became known as "Romantic." The combination of the mystical with the occult would appear later in the novel, Faust, a story of a young man who sells his soul to the devil.
In 1775 Goethe was betrothed to Anna Shonemann, a rich banker's daughter, but differences in age and temperament ended the engagement. Goethe had several stormy relationships, many of which appeared in his novels and as subjects of his poetry.
Goethe went to Weimar, home of the reigning duke Karl August, and quickly became his friend and adviser. The duke heaped a lot of responsibilities on his shoulders, including director of finance, supervisor of mines and military activities, and diplomatic duties. However, he did not neglect his writing and wrote poems and plays for numerous official occasions.
Advances in technology engaged Goethe in the natural sciences. His interest in art led him to the study of anatomy. In 1784 he discovered the intermaxillary bone, a segment of the upper jaw. Art also led him to the study of optics, color, and light. His scientific studies took on a controversial bent when he tried to prove that Isaac Newton (1642-1727) was wrong and that light is one and indivisible and cannot be explained by the theory of particles.
In 1790 he wrote a classic text on botany and biology called Versuch die Metamorphose der Pflanzen zu erklären (Metamorphosis of Plants). The book was artistic and well written and showed how many parts of plants are modifications of a basic form.
While Goethe's scientific discoveries were not notable, he did have great insight into scientific method and the study of natural phenomena. He was a keen observer and knew how to construct theory. He insisted that knowledge of self should develop with knowledge of the world.
Goethe founded and named the branch of science called morphology, which is a systematic study of natural occurrences. He studied the formations and transformations of rocks, animals, plants, colors, and clouds. He was interested in the cultural happenings of human science. His interests were in connecting all nature.
His poem Gott und Welt (God and World) showed how Goethe saw god in the natural world. Actually, Goethe was not a traditional church person but was a believer in the roots of the Bible as his philosophical base. Some have tried to describe his beliefs as "panentheism," a belief in the divine and transcendent God; however, he disagreed, saying that his beliefs could not be put into a small category.
He died in Weimar, Saxe-Weimar, on March 22, 1832.
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