August von Goethe, portrait by Julie Gräfin Egloffstein Julius August Walther von Goethe (25 December 1789 – 27 October 1830) was the only one of the five children of

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as trea ...

and Christiane Vulpius to survive into adulthood. He was born in

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...

and served at the court of

Karl August, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach Karl August, sometimes anglicised as Charles Augustus (3 September 1757 – 14 June 1828), was the sovereign Duke of Saxe-Weimar and of Saxe-Eisenach (in personal union) from 1758, Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach from its creation (as a political un ...

. He studied law 1808-1809 at the

Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

. After that brief period, his primary employment was as a kind of personal secretary to his father. He accompanied him on his frequent trips and kept his travel diary. Like his parents, he had a penchant for alcohol, but unlike them, he had a tendency to be melancholic. At the age of 27, he married

Ottilie von Pogwisch Baroness Ottilie Wilhelmine Ernestine Henriette von Goethe (born ''Freiin von Pogwisch''; 31 October 1796, Danzig – 26 October 1872, Weimar) was a German socialite and the daughter-in-law of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Biography Her father, W ...

(1796–1872) on 17 Jun 1817 in Weimar. Although the marriage proved difficult, the couple had three children:

Walther von Goethe {{Infobox noble, type , name = Walther Wolfgang von Goethe , title = Freiherr , image = File:Walther Wolfgang Goethe Litho.jpg , caption = , alt = , CoA = , more ...

, Wolfgang Maximilian von Goethe (1820–1883) and Alma Sedina Henriette Cornelia von Goethe (1827–1844). In 1830, he undertook a trip to Italy with his father's friend

Johann Peter Eckermann Johann Peter Eckermann (21 September 1792 – 3 December 1854), German poet and author, is best known for his work '' Conversations with Goethe'', the fruit of his association with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe during the last years of Goethe's life ...

.Eckermann is best known for his '' Conversations with Goethe'' The traveled by way of

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR-74), ...

, and

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, where Eckermann became ill and returned home. August traveled on to La Spezia, where he had an accident and was injured. He nevertheless traveled on to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, where he died of

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

in the night of 26–27 October.

References

*Karl von Holtei: ''Goethe und sein Sohn: Weimarer Erlebnisse in den Jahren 1827–1831''. Vera-Verlag, Hamburg 1924 {{DEFAULTSORT:Goethe, August von 1789 births 1830 deaths People from Weimar