| Timeline |
| 1749 |
Born 28 August in Frankfurt am Main |
| 1765 |
At 16, Goethe began his studies at the university in Leipzig, |
| 1771 |
Receives a licentiate in law at Strasbourg |
| 1773 |
Götz von Berlichingen published |
| 1774 |
The Sorrows of Werther published |
| 1775 |
Invited to the ducal court of Karl Augustus in Saxe-Weimar |
| 1782 |
Granted diploma of nobility |
| 1786 |
Makes a 2-year sojourn in Italy |
| 1788 |
Begins living with a young Christiane Vulpius, who bears him a son in 1789 |
| 1794 |
Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship completed |
| 1794 |
The beginning of his close association with Friedrich Schiller |
| 1806 |
Marries Christiane |
| 1808 |
Faust published |
| 1809 |
Elective Affinities published |
| 1813 |
Aus meinem Leben: Dichtung und Wahrheit , autobiography |
| 1816 |
Christiane dies |
| 1824 |
Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship published |
| 1832 |
Dies 22 March |
