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Goethe-Handbuch

reference work about Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMar 4, 2026
Entity authorityQ137603952
Source-derived summary

Goethe-Handbuch (lit. 'Goethe Handbook') is a reference work about the German writer and philosopher Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. It was published in 1996–1999 by J.B. Metzler and consists of four volumes, of which the fourth is in two parts, and an unnumbered index volume. It was edited at the Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf with financial backing from the Klassik Stiftung Weimar. The editors were Bernd Witte, Theo Buck, Hans-Dietrich Dahnke, Regine Otto and Peter Schmidt. Three supplement volumes were published in 2008–2012.

Volumes

Gedichte (lit. 'Poems'), 1996

Dramen (lit. 'Dramas'), 1996

Prosaschriften (lit. 'Prose Writings'), 1997

Personen, Sachen, Begriffe (lit. 'People, Things, Concepts'), 1998

A - K

L - Z

Chronologie, Bibliographie, Karten, Register (lit. 'Chronology, Bibliography, Maps, Index'), 1999

Supplements

Musik und Tanz in den Bühnenwerken (lit. 'Music and Dance in the Stage Works'), 2008, edited by Gabriele Busch-Salmen and Benedikt Jeßing

Naturwissenschaften (lit. 'Natural Sciences'), 2012, edited by Manfred Wenzel

Kunst (lit. 'Art'), 2011, edited by Andreas Beyer and Ernst Osterkamp

References

External links

J.B. Metzler: vol. 1, vol. 2., vol. 3, vol. 4.1, vol.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Goethe-Handbuch” as reference work about Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA practical starting point whose main value is the path it opens into stronger specialist and primary sources. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1996, 1999, 2008, 2012—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. The account is most persuasive where Goethe-Handbuch, work and Johann can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as reference work about Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 4, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q137603952. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1996, 1999, 2008 and 2012.

Critical limits

The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Goethe-Handbuch” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.