http://books.google.de/books?id=rjtsp2e ... ck&f=false
That's the begin of "Wilhelm Meisters Theatralische Sendung" (by Goethe). In the course of the action Benedict Meister, father of Wilhelm Meister, meets his mother in the kitchen, and the mother had made puppets for a puppet-theater, which she desires to show to the children at Christmas. The result of the action is, that the young Wilhelm Meister gets an attraction for the theater. The figures had been Saul, King David and Goliath and others.
Full German text:
http://www.bela1996.de/literature/goethe-wmts1.html
That's here from German wiki to Goethe:
"Schon früh kam der Junge in Kontakt mit Literatur. Das begann mit den Gutenachtgeschichten der Mutter und mit der Bibellektüre in der frommen, lutherisch-protestantischen Familie. Zu Weihnachten 1753 bekam er von der Großmutter ein Puppentheater geschenkt. Das für diese Bühne vorgesehene Theaterstück lernte er auswendig und führte es immer wieder mit Begeisterung gemeinsam mit Freunden auf."
It says, that Goethe had early contact with literature. Good night stories of the mother are mentioned and bible stories according the protestant traditions. At Christmas 1753 the grandmother presented a puppet theater and young Goethe learned the first play by heart and repeated the show with his friends very often.
The Wilhelm Meister project became a very long work, I think, it's the longest of all his many works.
It has a lot of autobiographical details.
Wilhelm Meister ist der Name des Titelhelden von Johann Wolfgang von Goethes folgenden Romanen:
Wilhelm Meisters theatralische Sendung („Urmeister“), ab 1776, im Druck 1911
Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre, erschienen 1795/96
Wilhelm Meisters Wanderjahre, ab 1807, im Druck 1821, erweiterte Fassung 1829
The "Wilhelm Meisters theatralische Sendung" was written, but never published in Goethe's life time, but it got the expression "Urmeister". Instead Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre and Wilhelm Meisters Wanderjahre were published. The "theatralische Sendung" was detected in 1910 and published.
Barbara Schulthess, who met Goethe during his first travel in Switzerland (1775), had once the text. She often got the newest manuscripts of Goethe, likely Goethe had been interested in her opinion. The name of her husband was "David".
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Schulthess
Barbara and Goethe had a long letter exchange. Finally both burnt their letters.
***********
Well, it's of interest for us, that Goethe in the first sentence of this long occupation with Wilhelm Meister embedded the Tarock evening of Benedict Meister.
The Goethe research has the opinion, that Goethe learned about Tarock in Wetzlar, which doesn't seem plausible, cause Goethe had a close connection to the sons of Breitkopf, and Breitkopf had - beside his other occupations - also a playing card fabric for some time and this produced Tarock cards.
http://a.trionfi.eu/WWPCM/decks06/d04357/d04357.htm
"1770 gründete er eine Spielkartenfabrik, die er jedoch 1782 wieder verkaufte"
http://de.wikisource.org/wiki/ADB:Breit ... %C3%A4rtel
Maybe the Tarock production started later.
Goethe shall have made a teaching poem about the Quadrille-Taroc as the "crown of the games" - in the relevant society in Wetzlar, where his work "Das Leiden des jungen Werther" played.
Goethe wrote this work as an reaction on a suicide of a young man in Wtzlar, that he knew: Karl Wilhelm Jerusalem
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Wilhelm_Jerusalem
This is a report about the "true action", not from Goethe's fictive story:
In the afternoon
(Tuesday) he goes to Secretary H.'s. Until eight o'clock
in the evening they play tarock together. Annchen
Brandt was also there ; Jerusalem accompanied her home.
As they walk, Jerusalem often strikes his forehead, gloom-
ily and repeatedly says : " If one were but dead, — if one
were but in heaven!" Annchen joked him about it; he
bargains for a place by her side in heaven, and at parting
he says : " It is agreed, then, that I shall have a place by
you in heaven."
More at ...
http://archive.org/stream/lifeworksofgo ... e_djvu.txt
Other perspective (doesn't mention "Tarock"):
http://books.google.de/books?id=k8YuAAA ... ck&f=false
Goethe's Werther hadn't the Tarock scene.