"He often and gladly" stayed in Gotha, and his time there would "tie most of the memories of a long life," recalls the 78-year-old Goethe. As a young man, he had offered his services to the Duke of Gotha from Italy. Nevertheless, Weimar remained Goethe's place of residence for over fifty years; the city to which the concept of Weimar Classicism is linked. But could it not have been Gotha as well? This book reveals a largely unknown chapter in Goethe's biography against the backdrop of the tumultuous history of the neighboring princely courts of Gotha and Weimar, adding a new and exciting dimension to it.