Goetz von Berlichingen with the Iron Hand

Hegel

Goethe’s 1773 drama Götz von Berlichingen mit der eisernen Hand (often shortened to Götz von Berlichingen) was a breakthrough work that made him famous overnight. Written when Goethe was in his mid-twenties and first published in 1773 (by Weygand in Leipzig), this historical play became a landmark of the Sturm und Drang era for its energetic style and its free, rebellious hero. It dramatizes the life of the 16th-century knight Götz, portraying him as a rugged individualist at odds with courtly authority, and it shocked contemporaries with the hero’s blunt retort to besiegers – a line often translated “He can lick me in the arse” – which quickly became synonymous with nonconformist spirit.

Set in a turbulent age of feuding princes, the play follows Götz von Berlichingen through battles, love affairs and political intrigue as he fights to preserve his honor and the simple ways of his peasant neighbors. The narrative is sprawling, yet the language crackles with directness: townsfolk and soldiers alike speak with vivacity, and Götz himself uses his Swabian dialect when high emotion flares. Goethe deliberately flouts the formal unity of place and scene, letting events spill naturally from one castle to another. This realistic, unpolished approach – combined with Götz’s courageous obstinacy – gave the audience the sense of witnessing a living folk legend rather than a polished tragedy. For Goethe it was as if the spirit of Shakespeare had come through German knightly legend, offering a new model of drama full of personal feeling and action.

Götz is remembered today as one of the first great successes of German Romantic drama. It was immediately hailed for its vitality: theater-goers loved its vivid characters and rousing episodes. The play not only earned Goethe an invitation to the court of Weimar, but also inspired a romantic reverence for the medieval past in Germany. Critics note that Götz opened the door for later nationalistic and individualistic literature by celebrating duty and sincerity over etiquette. Although it was soon trimmed for practical stage use, its original version remains a testament to Goethe’s youth – a daring experiment that tossed out old rules in favor of truth and heart. In literary history Götz von Berlichingen stands as the work that announced a new voice in German letters: an unvarnished, spirited proclamation of personal freedom that paved the way for the Romantic heroes to come.

This critical reader's edition offers a fresh, modern translation of the original manuscript in Fraktur (the old German script), designed to help any curious reader delve into Goethe's works, using clear, contemporary language and straightforward sentences to illuminate his complex ideas. It includes supplementary material providing autobiographical, historical, and linguistic context to this 18th century work- including an afterword by the translator discussing Goethe’s history, impact, and intellectual legacy, alongside an index of the philosophical concepts he explored—with a focus on Romanticism and Classicism. Included is a comprehensive chronological list of his published writings and a detailed timeline of his life, highlighting the personal relationships that profoundly influenced his philosophy.