Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

About Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) was a monumental figure in German literature and thought, whose work spanned poetry, drama, science, and autobiography. As a leading figure of German Romanticism, his masterpiece, *Faust*, is considered one of the greatest works of Western literature, securing his position at #83 on MIT's Historical Popularity Index. His influence extended deeply into the arts and philosophy, cementing his status as a globally significant cultural force across centuries.

Despite this profound historical importance, Goethe’s modern internet attention appears modest. He registered approximately 868K annualized Wikipedia views in 2025. For comparison, Franz Kafka, another towering literary figure, ranks lower in historical importance at #123 but garnered 2.0M views in the same year, suggesting a notable gap in contemporary search interest. Goethe's attention ratio stands at only ~1x, indicating that his online visibility aligns closely with what might be expected given his historical rank, unlike some highly viewed contemporaries with lesser influence.

His declining attention trend is also notable; the 2025 annualized figure shows a year-over-year decrease of -7.9%, further supported by a -12% drop in momentum between the first and third quarters. This suggests that while the internet still registers his presence, the overall trajectory points toward continued erosion of daily digital attention.