He studied its structure with such minute care that he correctly divined the additions to the great tower which the original architect had contemplated, but which he had been unable to carry out.
Goethe has himself indicated how the impressions he received from the cathedral influenced his first literary productions which bore the stamp of his individuality.

It formed a fitting background, he says, for such poetical creations as _Goetz von Berlichingen_ and _Faust_.

To the cathedral and its suggestions, even more than to Herder, perhaps, we should trace the inspiration that produced these works--the former of which met with Herder's questioning approval.

To the full force of that inspiration Goethe gave direct expression in a composition which is the most characteristic product of his Strassburg period--a short essay, entitled _Of German Architecture_.

Probably sketched in Strassburg, it was not published till his return to Frankfort.