Dr. Johann Georg Faust (approx. 1480 - 1540) was a German alchemist who was born in the village of Knittlingen , Württemberg.

Luther's friend Melanchthon stated that Faust studied magic at the University of Cracow, in Poland. He was accused of practicing black magic, additionally there are reports of Faust disparaging Jesus' miracles and boasting that he could do the same as often as he liked.

Feared and hated by Luther and Melanchthon (who claimed that the devil accompanied Faust in the form of a dog), his followers induced him to teach. After being accused of molesting his students he had to flee to escape punishment. Other reports show that he was active in Erfurt's university. Apparently while he lectured on Homer he, in order to entertain his students, confronted them with Homer's heroes in the flesh.

It was in Erfurt where Faust, while confronted by a Franciscan monk named Konrad Klinge said "I have gone further than you think and haved pledged myself to the devil with my own blood, to be his in eternity, body and soul."

Another story has him riding out of a Auerbach's Keller in Leipzig on a barrel (1525). In 1534 the German adventurer Philip von Hutten asked Faust to foretell his future before exploring the region around Venezuela, six years later he wrote his brother that everything had happened exactly as foretold by Faust.

Faust was put to death in Staufen, Germany , Breisgau in 1540. According to folklore, he was found in a pile of dung with his eyes stuck to the wall.

Cultural effect

A German chapbook about his sins was translated into English in 1587, where it came to the attention of Christopher Marlowe. Marlowe's Doctor Faustus, in turn, was studied by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and as such the fictional Faust came to overshadow the historical Faust, about whom little is known.