Friedrich Wilhelm Riemer
Biography
He arrived in Weimar on 3 September 1803 and was taken into Goethe's house within days as tutor to his son August. He was still in Weimar forty-two years later, running the ducal library and editing the correspondence of the man who had hired him.
From tutor to head librarian, 1812–1841
The offices stack up steadily: professor at the Weimar gymnasium and second librarian at the ducal library in 1812, the gymnasium given up in 1820, court councillor in 1831, head librarian in 1837, privy court councillor in 1841. It is the career of a man who came to teach one boy and ended up running the institution that holds the town's books — the same library whose Rococo hall people now queue for.
The philologist in the house
What Goethe actually used him for was expertise. Riemer assisted on the Wahlverwandtschaften, the Farbenlehre and Faust — which is to say he had his hands in the novel, the science and the play, the three things the man is famous for. The popular image of classical Weimar is a scene of solitary genius; the working reality included a trained philologist on the premises.
What he published afterwards, 1833–1841
He edited the Goethe–Zelter correspondence in six volumes between 1833 and 1836, and published his Mittheilungen über Goethe in two volumes in 1841. Together with Eckermann's conversations, these are the documents through which the nineteenth century met Goethe — assembled, in both cases, by men who had been employed by him.
Questions visitors ask
- What was Friedrich Wilhelm Riemer's role in Goethe's household?
- He arrived in Weimar on 3 September 1803 and was taken in within days as tutor to Goethe's son August. He later assisted Goethe on the Wahlverwandtschaften, the Farbenlehre and Faust.
- What offices did Riemer hold at the ducal library?
- Second librarian from 1812 and head librarian from 1837, alongside professor at the Weimar gymnasium until 1820, court councillor from 1831 and privy court councillor from 1841.
- What did Riemer publish about Goethe?
- The Goethe–Zelter correspondence in six volumes (1833–36) and his own Mittheilungen über Goethe in two volumes (1841) — together with Eckermann's conversations, among the documents through which the nineteenth century met Goethe.
- Can I visit where Riemer worked?
- Yes, the Anna Amalia Library, which he served as second librarian from 1812 and led as head librarian from 1837.
Notable Works & Achievements
Briefwechsel Goethes mit Zelter (6 vols, 1833–36)
Mittheilungen über Goethe (2 vols, 1841)
Connected Places in Weimar
Platz der Demokratie 1, 99423 Weimar
Second librarian of the ducal library from 1812 and its head librarian from 1837.
Historical Context
The trained philologist inside the house — the part of the period that does not fit the story of solitary genius.
For roughly sixty years a duchy of a few thousand people held the centre of German literature, because its ruler kept inviting writers to live there and then gave them jobs. That is the whole mechanism, and it ran from Goethe's arrival in 1775 to his death in 1832.
Read more about this period →Quick Facts
1774
1845
German