Johann Wolfgang von Goethe became janitor of the theater at Weimar in 1791.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ( [ ˈgɜːrtə ] [ ˈjoːhan ˈvɔlfɡaŋ fɔn ˈɡøːtə ] ; 28 August 1749 -- 22 March 1832 ) was a German writer and statesman . A literary celebrity by the age of 25 , Goethe was ennobled by the Duke of Saxe-Weimar , Carl August in 1782 after taking up residence there in November 1775 following the success of his first novel , The Sorrows of Young Werther . In 1791 , he was made managing director of the theatre at Weimar , and in 1794 he began a friendship with the dramatist , historian , and philosopher Friedrich Schiller , whose plays he premiered until Schiller 's death in 1805 .