Dr Albert Schweitzer speaking at the Goethe Bicentennial Convocation in Aspen, CO July 1949 in French. Translation by Dr. Emory Ross. There is a German version as well translated by Thornton Wilder..

The Goethe Bicentennial Convocation and Music Festival was a three-week celebration of the German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s 200th birthday from June 27- July 16, 1949. Held in Aspen under a huge canvas tent designed by Eero Saarinen, the event was organized largely by Walter & Elizabeth Paepcke and attracted some 2,000 people to the small mountain town. Participants including Albert Schweitzer, Spanish philosopher José Ortega y Gasset, and American writer Thornton Wilder spoke about Goethe’s relevance to the modern world, while the Minneapolis Symphony anchored the accompanying music festival. The event launched Aspen’s international reputation as a cultural hub and gave rise to both the Aspen Institute and the Aspen Music Festival and School.