Goethe’s Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre (Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship, 1795–96) is the classic German Bildungsroman, the novel of formation. Its sequel is Wilhelm Meisters Wanderjahre, his journeyman years. The titles follow the steps of the crafts. In Book 7, the Abbé hands Wilhelm his Lehrbrief, his certificate of apprenticeship. It begins: Die Kunst ist lang, das Leben kurz, das Urteil schwierig, die Gelegenheit flüchtig. (Art is long, life short, judgment difficult, opportunity fleeting.) In the same chapter, Wilhelm hears: Heil dir, junger Mann! deine Lehrjahre sind vorüber; die Natur hat dich losgesprochen. (Hail to you, young man! Your apprentice years are over. Nature has released you.) Losgesprochen, released, echoes the Lossprechung, one name the crafts still use for the ceremony that ends an apprenticeship.