Goethes ‘Divan-Jahre’

ABSTRACT The years 1814–19 are often known as Goethe’s ‘Divan years’, because the West-östlicher Divan is the main product of these five years. The article follows, step by step, its genesis after a decade that was probably the most difficult of his life. But what an array of diverse projects were completed or continued: the production of a new edition of his Werke (twenty volumes, 1815–19), the first volumes of his Italienische Reise, the beginning of the ‘Hefte’ Ueber Kunst und Alterthum in den Rhein und Mayn Gegenden and Zur Naturwissenschaft überhaupt, besonders zur Morphologie, as well as a manifold poetic production – the fruits of an unbelievable surge of activity.