Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Two works of the greatest importance works occupied him at this time. One is the novel Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre. This is an example of what is called in German a “Bildungsroman” which means something like “Education novel”. It means a novel which shows a person growing up and developing his character and learning about the world. This book was a very important influence on the 19th century Romantic novel and on all German autobiographical novels ever since. Goethe spent many years working on this book.