In the work of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832) one can find the seed of most German thought, literature, science and theology. A hugely influential man, not only on Germany but on the rest of Europe, Goethe's best known work is the two-part play Faust. Goethe was a privy-councilor to the Duchy of Weimar and his interest in foreign literature helped birth the concept of the world literature.

George Eliot called Goethe "Germany's greatest man of letters…and the last true polymath to walk the earth."