There is not one place in Germany without a street or square named after him. In Freiburg, many regard Goethestraße as the most beautiful alley in town, dating back to the beginning of the 20th century. Beautifully decorated houses built in a variety of historical styles line the street.
This is not true for Munich's Goethestraße, which runs off the central train station, where red light premises compete with cheap electronic stores. It was there where it happened. Road construction work around the station called for a detour signaled by panels showing Göthestraße instead of Goethestraße, which was an obvious mistake. A mistake? Hey, not so fast.
Our national poet was born in Frankfurt on 28 August 1749 as the son of Johann Caspar Göthe. As a young man, Johann Wolfgang changed his name to Goethe, in his father's eyes, a misdeed; he never pardoned his son.
The reason for Goethe's change has yet to be discovered. As a young man, did he already think of his international renown? Mind you, umlauts are rarely found in other languages if it is not for the Turks or Hungarians. By the way, the Turks are called Törökök in Hungarian. Those Hungarians not only overdo it concerning the frequency of their "ös." In addition to the short "ö" carrying two dots, they also know the long "ő" taking two strokes.
The American keyboards I used during work and later on the Internet forced me to change my name from Höfert to Hoefert.
The American keyboards I used during work and later on the Internet forced me to change my name from Höfert to Hoefert.
Working in the UK, my brother was so annoyed with the umlaut that he dropped the "tüttels" altogether. Maybe he did the right thing because when changing from "ö" to "oe," I suffered from my Dutch colleagues' pronunciation of my name. In their language, the "oe" stands for the phoneme "u."
Did Goethe consider this fact when he changed from "ö" to "oe"? Did he want the Dutch to call him de oude Goede, i.e., the old Good one?
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