During this period Goethe published his second novel, Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship the verse epic Hermann and Dorothea, and, in 1808, the first part of his most celebrated drama, Faust.

In 1791 he was made managing director of the theatre at Weimar, and in 1794 he began a friendship with the dramatist, historian, and philosopher Friedrich Schiller, whose plays he premiered until Schiller's death in 1805. Goethe's first major scientific work, the Metamorphosis of Plants, was published after he returned from a 1788 tour of Italy. He also contributed to the planning of Weimar's botanical park and the rebuilding of its Ducal Palace. During his first ten years in Weimar, Goethe became a member of the Duke's privy council (1776–1785), sat on the war and highway commissions, oversaw the reopening of silver mines in nearby Ilmenau, and implemented a series of administrative reforms at the University of Jena. Goethe was an early participant in the Sturm und Drang literary movement. He was ennobled by the Duke of Saxe-Weimar, Karl August, in 1782.

Goethe took up residence in Weimar in November 1775 following the success of his first novel, The Sorrows of Young Werther (1774). He is widely regarded as the greatest and most influential writer in the German language, and his work has had a profound and wide-ranging influence on Western literary, political, and philosophical thought from the late 18th century to the present day. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as treatises on botany, anatomy, and colour. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic.

Angelica kauffman quote