Goethe’s Wilhelm Meister project spanned several decades, from the 1770s to the 1820s, and produced three novels. The earliest, Wilhelm Meisters theatralische Sendung [Wilhelm Meister’s Theatrical Mission], was probably composed between 1777 and 1785, remained a fragment and was first published in 1911, while Wilhelm Meisters Wanderjahre [Wilhelm Meister’s Journeyman Years, 1821 and 1829] continues the story of Wilhelm’s life in an eccentric narrative form that anticipates the modern novel. Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre [Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship, 1795-96], an intricately plotted novel characterized by Goethe as “eine der incalculabelsten Productionen” [“one of the most incalculable productions”], inaugurated the European Bildungsroman. The only novel Goethe wrote during the period known as Weimar Classicism, it was composed beginning around 1793 under the collaborative influence of the friendship with Friedrich Schiller (q.v.), with whom...
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Citation: Macleod, Catriona. "Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 12 July 2006 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=8799, accessed 13 December 2025.]
