In the work of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832) one can find the seed of most German thought, literature, science and theology. A hugely influential man, not only on Germany but on the rest of Europe, Goethe's best known work is the two-part play Faust. Goethe was a privy-councilor to the Duchy of Weimar and his interest in foreign literature helped birth the concept of the world literature. George Eliot called Goethe "e;Germany's greatest man of letters...and the last true polymath to walk the earth."e;