Karl August, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach in the context of "Saxe-Weimar"

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on literary, political, and philosophical thought in the Western world from the late 18th century to the present. A poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre-director, and critic, Goethe wrote a wide range of works, including plays, poetry and aesthetic criticism, as well as treatises on botany, anatomy, and colour.

Goethe took up residence in Weimar in 1775 following the success of his first novel, The Sorrows of Young Werther (1774), and joined a thriving intellectual and cultural environment under the patronage of Duchess Anna Amalia that formed the basis of Weimar Classicism. He was ennobled by Karl August, Duke of Saxe-Weimar, in 1782. Goethe was an early participant in the Sturm und Drang literary movement. During his first ten years in Weimar, Goethe became a member of the Duke's privy council (1776–1785), sat on the war and highway commissions, oversaw the reopening of silver mines in nearby Ilmenau, and implemented a series of administrative reforms at the University of Jena. He also contributed to the planning of Weimar's botanical park and the rebuilding of its Ducal Palace.

Baroness Karoline Jagemann von Heygendorff (25 January 1777 in Weimar – 10 July 1848 in Dresden) was a major German tragedienne and singer. Her great roles included Elizabeth in Mary Stuart (1800) and Beatrice in The Bride of Messina (1803). She is also notable as a mistress of Karl August, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, the father of her three children. Both she and Karl August had their portraits painted by Heinrich Christoph Kolbe.