Goethe's letters to Charlotte von Stein are among the most beautiful love testimonies in world literature. Sigrid Damm has re-read the over a thousand letters and sheds light on the background of this unusual love for the seven years older woman. She tells of the soaring illusions, the enchanting intimacy, the closeness of everyday life, the joy, their tensions, delights, and the causes of the ultimately tragic failure. The result is a unique, comprehensive, and intimate portrait of the young Goethe between the ages of twenty-six and thirty-three.