62. Goethe's Relations with the Assembly of German Naturalists and Physicians in Berlin in 1828

According to a document in his archive

Since 1822, German naturalists and physicians have held an annual meeting attended by their colleagues from Germany and abroad. The suggestion for this institution came from Oken. The purpose of the meetings was to exchange opinions, to enable naturalists to get to know each other personally and to acquaint them with the collections and scientific institutions of the meeting place, which was chosen to be a different major German or Austrian city each year. Goethe must have welcomed this arrangement with pleasure. His participation was particularly lively at the meetings in Munich in 1827 and in Berlin in 1828. In the first year, Goethe's interest was particularly heightened by Zelter's stay in Munich, which coincided with that of the naturalists. (Cf. Goethe's correspondence with Zelter, IV, p.381ff.) The importance of the meetings of the researchers became particularly clear to Goethe when he received a description of the Munich events from his friend Kaspar Sternberg on October 30, 1827. "The conclusion of this year's travel cycle," Sternberg wrote, "was the meeting of German naturalists and physicians in Munich; a trusted friend, whom the king immediately recognized from the portrait he saw in Weimar, will have given news of this association on his return journey." The "trusted friend" refers to Zelter. The letter made such an impression on Goethe that he took a passage from it, revised it, introduced it with a few sentences and wrote the following short essay on the importance of the meetings of German naturalists and physicians:

"If we have dared to proclaim a European, indeed a general world literature, this does not mean that the different nations take note of each other and their products, for in this sense it has existed for a long time, continues and renews itself more or less. No, it means rather that the living and striving literati become acquainted with one another and find themselves prompted by inclination and public spirit to work socially. But this is brought about more by travelers than by correspondence, since personal presence alone succeeds in determining and strengthening the true relationship between people.

So do not look too far afield, but rejoice first of all when societies, namely itinerant societies moving from place to place, emerge in the fatherland; which is why the message from a worthy friend about the last association of natural scientists that met in Munich was highly desirable to us, which reads as follows:

"The most pleasing thing about this institution is that it replaces the lack of a capital city in which natural scientists could meet from time to time to discuss everything that is pious or an obstacle to the progress of science. Indeed, these social migrations from one German capital to another have the even greater advantage that one finds something new in the collections of each and is convinced of the correctness of the scientific determination made by comparing what has already been seen. Perhaps an even greater advantage is that people who would otherwise have walked side by side their whole lives unrecognized or even misjudged now seek each other out as scientific kin and establish a relationship with each other instead of criticizing and scornfully reviewing each other. Finally, the most important thing is that the statesmen who attend these meetings through others or in person become convinced that honest research is really meant honestly. The meeting to be held in Berlin in the coming year will probably form the bridge for attracting related naturalists from northern and eastern states. In this way, hiking would once again have achieved a beautiful, beneficial purpose. May heaven grant scientific endeavors in our German fatherland peace and tranquillity for a long time to come, so that an activity will unfold that the world has only experienced in a century since the invention of printing with far fewer resources.""

With the exception of a few Goethean changes, the passage: "The most pleasing appears - has experienced aids" is identical to a part of Sternberg's letter (cf. correspondence between Goethe and Sternberg, 5.178 f.). In his letter of reply to Sternberg of 27 November 1827, Goethe writes: "Although I have received various information from some quarters about what happened in Munich, this concerned more the exterior, which was quite impressive and honorable to look at, than the interior, namely the messages themselves... It is all the more desirable for me to hear from a confident source that at least the main purpose of getting to know each other better and hopefully truly uniting our natural scientists has not been compromised. The very fact that we have agreed on the place where we intend to meet next year gives us the best hopes, and certainly the meeting in Berlin under the auspices of the generally recognized Alexander von Humboldt is likely to instil the best hopes in us" (correspondence with Sternberg, p.180 £.). This meeting in Berlin brought two important facts for Goethe. Goethe's services to natural science were warmly acknowledged in public speeches by two important natural scientists. Alexander von Humboldt gave the opening speech. He also commemorated the absent natural scientists, including Goethe, with the words: "If, however, in the face of this assembly, I must withhold the expression of my personal feelings, let me at least be permitted to name the patriarchs of patriotic fame whom the care of their lives, dear to the nation, keeps away from us: Goethe, whom the great creations of poetic imagination have not prevented from plunging his exploratory gaze into all the depths of natural life, and who now, in rural seclusion, mourns his princely friend as Germany mourns one of its most glorious ornaments" (Isis, vol. XXI, p.254). And Martius, the Munich botanist, said at one point in his lecture "On the Architectonics of Flowers" with regard to Goethe's "Metamorphosis of Plants": "Above all, I note that the basic view which I do myself the honor of presenting here is not merely the result of my research, but that it has already been accepted, at least in part, by many and is generally the result of that morphological view of the flower which we owe to our great poet Goethe. For everything rests on the assumption that there are only leaves in the flower (that calyx, stamens, corolla, pistil are only modifications of the plant unit) or that the leaf is the unit with which we can reckon" (Isis, vol. XXII, p.334). Goethe paid particular attention to the events in Berlin. A booklet still in the Goethe Archive is proof of this. In it we find some of the printed documents relating to the meeting bound together. They are the following: "Overview map of the countries and cities", which delegates sent to the Assembly; a "Notification to the members" about the individual events at the Assembly;¹ The "printed list of participants with their proof of residence"; the program of the opening ceremony in the concert hall, which Zelter conducted and at which compositions by Mendelssohn, Zelter, Flemming, Rungenhagen and Wollank were performed; Humboldt's opening speech with his personal dedication to Goethe: "Herrn Geh. Rat von Goethe with the deepest gratitude to A. v. Humboldt"; the lecture "Über den Charakter der Vegetation auf den Inseln des Indischen Archipels" by C. G. C. Reinwardt, the Leyden botanist, also with his own handwritten dedication: "Sr. Excellenz dem Minister v. Goethe aus innigster Verehrung vom Verfasser"; a "Verzeichnis eines Systems von Versuchen über die Bestäubung der Pflanzen, angestellt in den Jahren 1821-1828 von Dr. A.W. Henschel", which had been presented to the assembly; finally, a letter "to the gentlemen naturalists and physicians" from the "Berlin Medal Mint", concerning the production of commemorative coins with the portraits of famous naturalists. Following this, the booklet also contains the aforementioned short essay by Goethe in John's handwriting, with corrections partly in Goethe's own hand and partly in Riemer's hand. It is enclosed in a special cover bearing the inscription (in Eckermann's hand): "Naturforscher in Berlin". The last item in the booklet is a number: "Notizen aus dem Gebiet der Natur- und Heilkunde" (Notes from the field of natural and medical science) from October 1829, with news about the Heidelberg naturalists' meeting of 1829, as proof that Goethe's interest in these meetings was also lively in the following period. The cover of the booklet bears the words (in John's hand): "Acta die Zusammenkunft der Naturforscher in Berlin 1828" and in the left-hand corner (in Kräuter's hand): "Auswärtige Angelegenheiten". Also worth mentioning is the notice in the program of the opening ceremony that reads on the upper sides of the hall in which this celebration took place:

"In fiery battle the fervent forces burn,
Great things are wrought by their strife, greater things by their alliance" -Schiller

and

"It shall stir, act creatively,
First shape itself, then transform,
It only seems to stand still for moments.
The eternal continues to stir in all:
For everything must decay into nothing,
if it wants to persist in being." Goethe

The information provided here is proof that the Naturalists' Meeting of 1828 gave Goethe a gratifying insight into the impact his scientific endeavors had on German intellectual life.