Goethe's eye disease

Abstract

Ophthalmic diseases reported in the age of Goethe are difficult to identify today because the nomenclature used at that time is now antiquated. However, it is not difficult to establish from available documents that Goethe's left eye was seriously affected by an erysipelas (tenonitis? orbital phlegmon?), though it was not permanently damaged. With regard to differential diagnosis, an ophthalmic zoster may also be considered, but this is most unlikely considering the documentary evidence and the absence of lasting ocular damage.