The motif, designed by the artist Michael Otto from Rodenbach, focuses on the heads of the two protagonists who are at the center of the drama: Faust and Mephisto. The Janus-faced arrangement clearly demonstrates their close constitutive connection. The central motif of the pen combines the theme of literary writing with the devil's pact that is characteristic of the drama, while Gretchen looks into the picture from the right. Finely crafted, the motif impresses both from a close and a distance view and fills the coin circle perfectly. With its dignified eagle, the value side corresponds perfectly with the picture side.
It starts with ""Faust"" by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, one of the world's most famous works in literary history.
The focus of Goethe's main dramatic work, for which he worked on early modern material, is the figure of the magician and devil's partner Dr. Fist. His striving to understand “what holds the world together at its core”, the devil’s pact with Mephistopheles, the tragic story of Margarete, the protagonist’s world of emotions, thoughts and experiences as well as the overwhelming abundance of linguistic power and references to literary traditions and The world theater has stimulated numerous artists to engage in visual and musical engagement.
The work on “Faust” stretched with long interruptions over a period of 60 years and reflects Goethe's changing perception of the beginning of modernity. The Urfaust appeared in the early 1770s, and in 1790 “Faust. A fragment.” “The Tragedy, Part One” follows in 1808. Goethe worked on the second part, which, at his request, should not be published until after his death, primarily in the last seven years before his death.
Just as Goethe's perception of modernity changed, “Faust” also had an eventful reception history. The eponymous character is considered the epitome of modern man. In the late 19th century he was a symbolic figure for active striving and glorification of scientific and technical progress; in the GDR he was seen as a champion of the workers' and farmers' state. Today, the focus of interest is more on the catastrophic consequences of Faust's actions, which are interpreted as a clairvoyant diagnosis of the questionable character of our modern age.
