Visit Top Sights in Weimar in Thuringia, Germany
See UNESCO-Listed Bauhaus and Classicism (Goethe & Schiller) Sites
Mar 28, 2009
Weimar is a top culture destination for German travelers but foreign tourists will find much to enjoy as well in this small but culturally very important town in Thuringia (Thüringen). Top sights in Weimar include the residences of German literary giants Goethe and Schiller, the German National Theater, the garden house of Goethe, the original Bauhaus University with other Bauhaus sights, a Cranach triptych in the Herderkirche, the great art collection in the Schloss, the Anna Amalia Library, the Nietzsche Archives, the Goethe-Schiller Archives, the Park an der Ilm, and the Fürstengrub. Several Bauhaus and Classical Weimar sites are inscribed on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage list.
Top Weimar Klassik (Weimar Classicism) Sights in Weimar
Many travelers visit Weimar to see sights associated with the Weimar Klassik (Weimar Classicism). This period at the end of the eighteenth, early nineteenth century saw tine Weimar at the center of German literary thought due to the presence of important writers (Goethe, Schiller, Herder, and Wieland) and a cultured ruling family.
Works by these authors, and others, are frequently performed in the Neoclassical Deutsches Nationaltheater (German National Theatre) in old town Weimar. (The ultra-liberal constitution of the ill-fated Weimar Republic was also drafted here.)
Top Goethe Sights in Weimar
Most visitors still visit Weimar because of German literary giant Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832). Goethe spent most of his life in Weimar and many sights in Weimar are associated with him.
Arguably the most important sight in Weimar is Goethes Wohnhaus und Nationalmuseum (Residence and National Museum). Goethe lived here in town at Frauenplan 1 from 1792 until his death in 1832. The house is furnished as it was in Goethe’s time while a more modern section has an exhibition on Weimar Classicism.
Equally popular is the small Goethes Gartenhaus (Goethe’s Garden Cottage) where Goethe originally lived in the Park an der Ilm a short stroll from the palace and old town. He preferred to work here in peace and quiet until his final years. Both houses are sparsely furnished as they were in the time of Goethe.
The mid-nineteenth-century statue of Goethe and Schiller by Ernst Rietschel in front of the German National Theater in Weimar is considered to be the most photographed statue in Germany. Both Goethe and Schiller were buried in the Fürstengruft (Ducal Mausoleum) to the south of the old town.
Other Top Literary Sights in Weimar, Germany
Friedrich von Schiller (1759-1805), Germany’s foremost playwright, lived his final years in Weimar as a close friend of Goethe. His former residence – Schillers Wohnhaus – has original furniture and memorabilia associated with Schiller.
German writer Christoph Wieland’s life is celebrated in a museum in the Wittumspalast, while the Stadtkirche (City Church) is often referred to as the Herderkirche, after theologian and writer Gottfried Herder, who preached here. His statue is on the square in front of the church.
German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche spent his final years in Weimar. After his death, his sister had Henry van der Velde design the magnificent Art Nouveau Nietzsche Archive to house his writings and library.
Top Bauhaus Sights in Weimar
The Bauhaus school started in 1919 in a Henry van der Velde designed university building in Weimar. The movement, which moved out of conservative Weimar in 1925 to nearby Dessau, is celebrated in the Bauhaus Museum in front of the National Theater. The only original Bauhaus house that survived in Weimar is the recently restored Haus am Horn. The Haus am Horn and two original Bauhaus university buildings, including the office of Walther Gropius, are UNESCO World Cultural Heritage sites.
See Top Art in Weimar
The Schlossmuseum (Palace Museum) in Weimar has an interesting art collection with works from the Middle Ages up to the early twentieth century including important works by Lucas Cranach and the Weimar School. More modern, post-1960 Avant-Garde art can be seen in the Neues Museum.
The Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek (Duchess Anna Amalia Library) is one of the most important libraries in Germany. Its main hall is a Rococo masterpiece worth seeing in its own right.
Buchenwald
Only 10 km (6 miles) outside Weimar is the memorial site of the infamous Buchenwald Concentration Camp. An information office on the Markt (Market Square) in Weimar also has more information and details on this notorious site.
Transportation to Weimar is easy by car or train due to Weimar’s favorable location in Thuringia in the geographical center of Germany. Many luxury hotels in Weimar cater more for the tourist rather than the business market and are thus often cheaper during the week than on weekends.
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