Goethes Vulkane: Naturgewalt in der Italienischen Reise

Abstract

Goethe, in his Italienische Reise, stylized certain aspects of Southern life as "Arcadian", yet he proved to be an accurate observer with regard to landscape features. A disciple of the emerging science of geology, he climbed Mount Vesuvius three times. Yet his reactions to the active mountain were ambiguous: what aroused his deep curiosity as a mineralogist was often too erratic and formless to satisfy him as an artist. Goethe was, after all, turning to classicist principles. This leads to a peculiar tension in all of Goethe's descriptions of volcanic phenomena in Southern Italy. The paper focuses on these tensions in the account of his ascents of Vesuvius. It also explores the famous description of the nocturnal view from a window at the Royal Palace, where Goethe saw the active volcano for the last time; here a kind of balance finally seemed to be within reach.