23. “Goethe's Iphigenia”

A lecture by Prof. Dr. W. Heinzelmann Erfurt 1891, Hugo Neumann

The attempt to measure Goethe according to an underlying standard must always lead to erroneous results. Just as little positive contribution to Goethe's scientific knowledge will be made by those who simply ask themselves: to what extent do Goethe's scientific views agree with those of Darwinism or those of our time in general, just as little can a person come to a correct judgment about the ethical and religious content of Goethe's poems who examines them for their agreement or disagreement with the teachings of Christianity, as the author of this lecture does. Goethe can only be explained from within himself, from the innermost nature of his very being. Every lens through which his achievements are seen changes [their] original form. That is why Heinzelmann's conclusions are one-sided and skewed. And if he recommends the interpretation of "Iphigenia" for school use in his sense, we would like to say, on the other hand, that for this purpose the pure, unbiased consideration of the work of art seems more useful to us, because it alone brings the student to understand Goethe purely from within, without any preconceived opinion.