This Festschrift marks the 50th anniversary of the Dallas Goethe Center, a nonprofit educational and cultural arts organization, dedicated to advancing German culture and language in North Texas. Founded in 1965, the Dallas Goethe Center serves the community by developing an appreciation and understanding of German art, drama, music, language, literature, and history, and cultivates mutual understanding between the people of German-speaking countries and those of the United States of America. On the occasion of its 50th anniversary, a symposium honoring Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was organized and held on April 22, 2016, at the University of Dallas. This Festschrift is the published proceedings of the symposium along with a review of the Goethe Centers history and the development of its mission from its founding to the present. The concept of the Festschrift is focused on the persona of Goethe and his modern-day relevance as a representative of German culture and Bildung. The chapters included in this volume revolve around Goethes uniqueness as a thinker, scientist, and artist. This volume seeks to draw attention to Goethes role as cultural representative by highlighting his double function as mediator between both tradition and innovation by virtue of his intellectual idiosyncrasy. It also seeks to contextualize the various scholarly contributions as both examinations of Goethes unique cultural and intellectual formation as well as inquiries into the reception of that formation as part of a modern understanding of the concept of Bildung.

Jacob-Ivan Eidt received his MA in German literature and philosophy from the Katholische Universität Eichstätt and his PhD in Germanic studies from University of Texas at Austin. He is Associate Professor of German and Chair of the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures at the University of Dallas. Christoph Daniel Weber received his MA and PhD in Germanic studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is Associate Professor of German and Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of World Languages, Literatures, and Cultures at the University of North Texas.

Nicola Bremer: Foreword – Acknowledgments – Jacob-Ivan Eidt: Introduction: The Dallas Goethe Center: History, Mission, Outlook 1965–2015 – Christoph Daniel Weber: The Allure of Danger: The Depiction of Nature’s Destructive Forces in Goethe’s Oeuvre – Jacob-Ivan Eidt: "Man möchte sich fürchten, das Haus fiele ein": Goethe’s Beethoven-Reception and the Elemental in Music – Josiah Simon: Journey to the "Realm of the Mothers": Franz Rosenzweig’s Response to Goethe’s Faust – Prisilla Sanchez: Rewriting Goethe: Goethe Seen through Stendhal’s Memoirs – Hella Hennessee: "Amerika, du hast es besser." Goethe’s Changing Concept of America – Dongliang Li: The Study of Goethe in Greater China: Status Quo and Prospect – Bainard Cowan: Wilhelm Meister, Hamlet, and the Foundations of Modern Meaning – Tobias Joho: Iterative Figures of Speech in Goethe’s Elective Affinities – Stefan Hajduk: The Moods of Young Werther: Goethe’s Innovative Language of Emotion – John Douglas Macready: The Pariah and the Poet: Hannah Arendt’s Alternative Reading of Goethe’s Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre as a Critique of Enlightenment Bildung – Contributors.