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Weimar - discover city of culture Goethe, Schiller, Gropius: Weimar is the star of Germany’s and Europe’s intellectual past and is intrinsically linked with big names. Both Weimar Classicism and the Bauhaus movement remain beacons of the extraordinarily rich cultural life that you will encounter throughout the city. Although it only lasted around 50 years, Weimar Classicism was one of the greatest eras in European intellectual history. It all began with Duchess Anna Amalia, who pulled in the great poets and philosophers, whose fame is still associated with Weimar. Reminders of Classical Weimar include the houses of Goethe and Schiller, Belvedere Palace, Ettersburg Castle and Tiefurt Mansion with their fabulous parks – all sites associated with Herder. Other attractions from this period include Wittums Palace, where the illustrious round table assembled, the renowned Duchess Anna Amalia Library and the historical cemetery with its royal crypt, where Goethe and Schiller are laid to rest. It’s no wonder, then, that the adoption of Classical Weimar as a UNESCO World Heritage Site was based on the art-historical significance of the town’s buildings and parks and on its role as an intellectual hub in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Another great epoch that emerged and flourished in Weimar was the Bauhaus, one of the foremost movements in architecture and design of the 20th century.
Goethe Residence One of the most important examples of Classical Weimar, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe lived in this Baroque house for almost fifty years. He lived there from 1782 to 1789 as a tenant, then from 1792 to 1832 as the owner. The poet planned the form and furnishing of the rooms as well as its rich collections, e.g. in the Juno Room. The furnishings and fittings from the last few years of Goethe’s life have largely been preserved. For reasons of conservation, the number of visitors is limited. Shortly after the death of Goethe’s last grandson Walther, Goethe’s historic residence and his art and nature collections passed on to the trusteeship of the Goethe National Museum, founded in 1885. Two museum buildings were built in 1913 and 1935 to accommodate the steadily growing collection. The Goethe National Museum is situated in the same building as Goethe Residence.
Goethe’s garden house and park on the river Ilm The 48-hectare landscaped park on the edge of Weimar’s old town is part of a kilometre-long stretch of green along the Ilm. It was laid between 1778 and 1828 and features both sentimental, classical and post-classical/romantic styles. Important characteristics of the park include the numerous lines of sight linking features such as Goethe’s garden house, the Roman House and the bark house within the park; these also connect them with the surrounding countryside.
Anna Amalia Library The Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek is one of the most famous libraries in Germany. Anna Amalia had the ‘Green Palace’ turned into a library comprising a unique combination of books, an art collection and architecture. The Rococo Hall is especially famous. On the evening of September 2nd 2004, a devastating fire broke out in the original building of the Herzogin Anna Amalia Library and developed into the largest library fire in Germany since WW II. The historical building, which belongs to the UNESCO World Heritage, was damaged by fire and water, and the third floor and the attic were completely destroyed. During the night of the fire and the following days, more than nine hundred helpers evacuated tens of thousands of books and art works out of the building and from under the rubble left after the fire. Large parts of the valuable collection were maintained, to which medieval autographs, incunabula (early printed books dating from before 1500), globes and maps belong, as well as the largest Faust collection in the world and Nietzsche’s private library. Of the 50,000 burned volumes, about three quarters are estimated to be replaceable on the long term.
Schiller residence Friedrich Schiller spent the last three years of his life in this townhouse on the former Weimar Esplanade. Still containing part of the original furnishings, it reflects the style prevalent in Schiller’s day. It was here that Schiller wrote his last great dramas such as “The Bride of Messina” and “William Tell”. In the 1980s, a museum dedicated to Schiller was built as an annex, providing more space to depict his life, works and impact. The frequently changing exhibitions provide an opportunity to study the writer in greater detail.
City Castle After several fires before, in 1774, the three-wing annex was again destroyed by fire, with only the enclosure walls left standing. Duke Carl August convened a palace construction commission under the direction of Goethe. In 1816, Clemens Wenzeslaus Coudray started planning the west wing; construction work on this wing was completed in 1847 when the palace chapel was consecrated. Along with the ducal family’s private chambers, the west wing houses the poet’s rooms furnished by Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna between 1835 and 1847. These are memorial rooms in honour of Christoph Martin Wieland, Johann Gottfried Herder, Friedrich Schiller and Johann Wolfgang Goethe. The construction of the south wing in 1912 to 1914 under supervision of Grand Duke Wilhelm Ernst closed off the courtyard, which opened towards the park. The City Castle has been used as a museum since 1923. It is also the administrative headquarters of the Klassik Stiftung Weimar.
Belvedere Castle The castle contains an exquisite collection of arts and crafts, including precious porcelain, faïence, glasses and select furniture. The historical rooms of Belvedere Castle with the festive hall, the silver salon and the side pavilions, have been restored during the last few years at great expense. An exhibit on hunting in the Weimar countryside can be visited in the east pavilion, and an exhibit on the culture of gardens during the lifetime of Duke Ernst August, who commissioned the Belvedere Palace, is on diplay in the west pavilion.
Belvedere Palace stands on a hill at the south of Weimar and is surrounded by 43 hectares of parkland. Duke Carl August, who came to power in 1775, pursued botanical studies at Belvedere together with Goethe. By 1820, a botanical garden had been created to keep approximately 7900 plant species from Germany and abroad. In 1811, Carl August left Belvedere Palace and Park to his son Carl Friedrich and the latter’s wife, the Russian Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna. The later duke had a so-called Russian garden laid for his wife at the west of the palace. The park had by now gone to rack and ruin, and between 1815 and 1830 it was transformed into a country park in post-classical, romantic style with meandering paths and numerous ornamental park constructions. Grand Duke Carl Alexander, whose reign commenced in 1853, had the palace, park and orangery carefully preserved and maintained. The park was reconstructed between 1974 and 1978 and the Russian Garden between 1978 and 1982. Reconstruction and restoration work on the orangery complex began in 1998 and will be completed step by step over the next few years.
Bauhaus Museum Minimalist and yet self-confident: With its clear geometry and generously designed front plaza, the new building invites visitors to come inside and stay awhile. The design by Heike Hanada in cooperation with Benedict Tonon opens up views to the inside and to the outside, and, with its cleverly designed surroundings it corresponds with the adjacent Weimarhallenpark. Together with the Neues Museum and the exhibition on forced labor during National Socialism, a new museum quarter has emerged. The new building is a geometrically clear-cut cube with five levels and can be entered from the side facing the city through a generous foyer area. From the side facing the Weimarhallenpark, one crosses a large terrace before entering the building. At night, it will be illuminated, giving the entire area a new, bright center. The exhibition offers an adequate presentation format for one of the most important Bauhaus collections in the country and the oldest Bauhaus holdings in the world, for which Walter Gropius himself selected the core objects. The Klassik Stiftung Weimar holds 13,000 objects and documents in its collection, including the Ludwig Collection on design history from the 18th to the 20th century. Particularly precious objects include the famous Wagenfeld lamp, the lattice chair by Marcel Breuer, the teapot by Marianne Brandt, ceramics by Theodor Bogler, as well as works by Paul Klee, Peter Keler and Lászlo Moholy-Nagy. The exhibition focusses on the design icons, but also on documents of the period that have never been shown before.