On This Day

German writer, artist and politician Johann Wolfgang von Goethe marries mistress Christiane Vulpius in Weimar

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on literary, political, and philosophical thought in the Western world from the late 18th century to the present. A poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre-director, and critic, Goethe wrote a wide range of works, including plays, poetry and aesthetic criticism, as well as treatises on botany, anatomy, and colour.

Goethe took up residence in Weimar in 1775 following the success of his first novel, The Sorrows of Young Werther (1774), and joined a thriving intellectual and cultural environment under the patronage of Duchess Anna Amalia that formed the basis of Weimar...

Historical Significance

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language.

Key People

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

writer and polymath

German writer and polymath

Events Before

  1. Lady Caroline Ponsonby (19) marries future Prime Minister William Lamb, Lord Melbourne (26) in London, until her death i

    Lady Caroline Ponsonby (19) marries future Prime Minister William Lamb, Lord Melbourne (26) in London, until her death in 1928

  2. Battle of Trafalgar: British Admiral Horatio Nelson defeats the combined French and Spanish fleet. Nelson is shot and ki

    Battle of Trafalgar: British Admiral Horatio Nelson defeats the combined French and Spanish fleet. Nelson is shot and killed during the battle.

  3. Lewis and Clark Expedition, led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, reaches the Pacific Ocean, the first European Ame

    Lewis and Clark Expedition, led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, reaches the Pacific Ocean, the first European Americans to cross the West

  4. Ludwig van Beethoven's "Fidelio", his only opera, premieres at Vienna's Theater an der Wien

    Fidelio, originally titled Leonore, oder Der Triumph der ehelichen Liebe (Leonore, or The Triumph of Marital Love), Op. 72, is the sole opera by German composer Ludwig van Beethoven.

  5. Harmony Society officially forms

    Harmony Society officially forms

Events After

  1. Curaçao is taken by the English during the Napoleonic Wars until March 1816

    The Spanish American wars of independence (Spanish: Guerras de Independencia Hispanoamericanas) were a series of conflicts fought across Spanish America during the early 19th century.

  2. London's Pall Mall becomes the first street lit by gaslight

    London's Pall Mall becomes the first street lit by gaslight

  3. Battle of Eylau ends inconclusively between Napoleon's forces and the Russian Empire, first battle Napoleon isn't victor

    Battle of Eylau ends inconclusively between Napoleon's forces and the Russian Empire, first battle Napoleon isn't victorious

  4. US President Martin Van Buren (24) weds high school sweetheart Hannah Hoes (23) in Catskill, New York

    US President Martin Van Buren (24) weds high school sweetheart Hannah Hoes (23) in Catskill, New York

  5. US Congress bans the slave trade within the US, effective January 1, 1808

    The internal slave trade in the United States, also known as the domestic slave trade, the Second Middle Passage and the interregional slave trade, was the mercantile trade of enslaved people within…

More from the 1800s

Frequently Asked Questions

What happened on October 14, 1806?
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on literary, political, and philosophical thought in the Western world from the late 18th century to the present. A poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre-director, and critic, Goethe wrote a wide range of works, including plays, poetry and aesthetic criticism, as well as treatises on botany, anatomy, and colour.
Why is German writer, artist and politician Johann Wolfgang von Goethe marries mistr... significant?
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language.
Who was involved in German writer, artist and politician Johann Wolfgang von Goethe marries mistr...?
Key figures include Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (writer and polymath).

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