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 & hellip;and ...