Interesting that someone chose this to be spotlighted. Here are a few trivia facts that come to mind.
#3: The book inspired a wave of copycat suicides across Europe and was even banned in some cities.
#7: Hamlet is mentioned all over Goethe's big Bildungsroman "Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship", from off remarks to central plot points where the character mounts it on stage.
#12: The two were fans of each other. Goethe called Napoleon a "demigod"; Napoleon had allegedly read mentioned Werther seven times.
#13: Goethe is an example of a renaissance man. Besides his own literary work, he translated English, French, Spanish, Italian and Ancient Greek books, extensively studied and contributed to geology and physics, and served as a state minister. In German history he is seen as the embodiment of culture and genius.
#3: The book inspired a wave of copycat suicides across Europe and was even banned in some cities.
#7: Hamlet is mentioned all over Goethe's big Bildungsroman "Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship", from off remarks to central plot points where the character mounts it on stage.
#12: The two were fans of each other. Goethe called Napoleon a "demigod"; Napoleon had allegedly read mentioned Werther seven times.
#13: Goethe is an example of a renaissance man. Besides his own literary work, he translated English, French, Spanish, Italian and Ancient Greek books, extensively studied and contributed to geology and physics, and served as a state minister. In German history he is seen as the embodiment of culture and genius.