Goethe occupied a position that often placed him closer to historical events than he might have liked and forced him to come to terms with them, not only personally, but above all for the sake of Duke Carl August (1757-1828) and the small German state of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach that Goethe served throughout his adult life. Thus Goethe was not just a man of letters, but also a man of affairs; he was acquainted with, met - not least through his regular sojourns at the Bohemian spas - or had dealings with an impressive number of the leading players of his age ranging from Prussian kings and statesmen to Napoleon Bonaparte, Czar Alexander I of Russia and Prince Metternich, the architect of Restoration Europe.