Johann Wolfgang von Goethe is almost synonymous with German humanism. In the late eighteenth century, Goethe was not only a writer. He was also a state official in the Duchy of Saxe - Weimar - Eisenach , legally trained, institutionally empowered, and administratively responsible. One capital case confirmed under this administrative order would later become the basis of Viktor Glass’s documentary novel Goethes Hinrichtung . Source: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Goethes-Hinrichtung