Goethe's Birthday
Next: August 28, 2027
A poet who looked east and west.
The story
Where it comes from
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was born in Frankfurt am Main on 28 August 1749, and this Story marks his birthday. He began his autobiography with that moment: 'On 28 August 1749, at the stroke of twelve noon, I came into the world in Frankfurt am Main.' Taught at home by his father and private tutors, he studied law, but writing won. His early works, among them The Sorrows of Young Werther, helped define the Sturm und Drang movement, and he is often called the greatest poet of the German language.
How it's celebrated
There is no formal observance. The Frankfurt house where he was born is now a museum, and the Goethe-Institut, named after him, teaches German and shares German culture in many countries. Anyone can mark the day by reading a few of his poems, or a page of Faust, aloud.
Did you know
- In 1814, aged 65, he was given a German translation of the Persian poet Hafez, which inspired his West-Eastern Divan, first published in 1819.
- He was a keen scientist too, and his Theory of Colours appeared in 1810.
- As a young lawyer in Frankfurt between 1772 and 1775, he took on 28 cases.
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