Dichtung und Wahrheit

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Aus meinem Leben: Dichtung und Wahrheit ("Out of my Life: Poetry and Truth") (1811-1833), is Goethe's autobiography. The German word "Dichtung" means both "poetry" and "fiction" in English, which indicates through an ingenious ambiguity a humorous notion that perhaps not all aspects are unfolded truthfully therein. A story related in part to Goethe's life, outlining his happy childhood, his relationship with his sister Cornelia, and an infatuation with a barmaid named Gretchen; it also partly expounds the changes in his thinking that were brought about by the Seven Years' War and the French occupation while other experiences throughout are presented and coloured.