Influential 1779 play appeals for religious tolerance among Christians, Jews, and Muslims. Timeless considerations include the nature of God, anti-Semitism, wealth and poverty, and the conflict between love and duty.
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729-81) is regarded as an outstanding representative of the Enlightenment era. Author, philosopher, dramatist, publicist, and art critic, he exercised an enormous influence over the course of German literature.
