Friedrich Schiller

Wilhelm Tell Friedrich Schiller

William Tell was Schiller's last complete play before his death in 1805. Ten years earlier, he had succeeded in entering into a close intellectual association with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the leading figure in German literature at the time. At one of their meetings, Goethe gave Schiller a detailed account of his travels to and his particular fascination with Switzerland. Schiller subsequently suggested that Goethe compose either an epic poem or a play on the William Tell legend. Instead, Goethe presented Schiller with his complete Swiss materials, which stimulated the noted historian Schiller to immerse himself in Swiss history and the work recently published by his contemporary Johann Müller. Schiller learned that the legend, possibly myth, of William Tell did not appear in documents until well after the historical period of the play.