Weimar
Encyclopedia
Weimar (ˈvaɪma) is a city
in Germany
famous for its cultural heritage. It is located in the federal state of Thuringia
, north of the Thüringer Wald, east of Erfurt
, and southwest of Halle
and Leipzig
. Its current population is approximately 65,000. The oldest record of the city dates from the year 899. Weimar was the capital of the Duchy (after 1815 the Grand Duchy) of Saxe-Weimar
(German Sachsen-Weimar).
Weimar's cultural heritage is vast. It is most often recognised as the place where Germany's first democratic constitution was signed after the First World War, giving its name to the Weimar Republic
period in German politics, of 1918–1933. However, the city was also the focal point of the German Enlightenment and home of the leading characters of the literary genre of Weimar Classicism
, the writers Goethe
and Schiller
. The city was also the birthplace of the Bauhaus
movement, founded in 1919 by Walter Gropius
, with artists Wassily Kandinsky
, Paul Klee
, Oskar Schlemmer
, and Lyonel Feininger
teaching in Weimar's Bauhaus School. Many places in the city centre have been designated as UNESCO World Heritage sites.
The city limits of Weimar itself are approximately 7 km and the neighbouring cities are Jena
and Erfurt
, the capital of Thuringia. The city lies along the River Ilm
. In the valley of the river Ilm river the federal Motorway 87 runs from Ilmenau to Leipzig and two railways: the Ilmbahn between Kranichfeld and Weimar and the highspeed railway from Berlin to Frankfurt am Main between Weimar and Großheringen.
The city is north-east of the Thuringian Forest, 25 minutes away by autobahn or train.
The oldest records about Weimar date back to the year 899. Its name changed over the centuries from Wimares through Wimari to Wimar and finally Weimar; it is probably derived from Old High German
wih 'holy' + mari 'standing water, swamp'. (Another theory derives the first element from OHG win 'meadow, pasture.') In 1410 it received city rights, although the growth of the city was severely affected by the 1424 fires.
In 1552 Weimar became the capital of the Duchy of Saxe-Weimar
(German Sachsen-Weimar) and remained so until 1918.
, having been home to such luminaries as Goethe
, Schiller
, and Herder; and in music the piano virtuoso Hummel
(a pupil of Mozart
), Liszt
, and Bach
. Richard Strauss worked in Weimar for 5 years as second conductor in the acclaimed Staatskapelle Weimar (the court orchestra founded in 1491). Several of his encores for works such as Hansel and Gretel, Don Juan and Macbeth were performed by the Staatskapelle Weimar. It has been a site of pilgrimage
for the German intelligentsia since Goethe first moved to Weimar in the late 18th century. Goethe was also active in civic duties while living in Weimar. He served as Privy Councilor to the Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
for an extended period. The tombs of Goethe and Schiller, as well as their archives, may be found in the city. Goethe's Elective Affinities
(1809) is set around the city of Weimar.
from 1919 to 1933 is commonly referred to as the Weimar Republic
, as the Republic's constitution
was drafted here because the capital, Berlin
, with its street riot
ing after the 1918 German Revolution
, was considered too dangerous for the National Assembly
to use it as a meeting place.
founded the Bauhaus
School and movement in Weimar in 1919. The School aimed to teach and develop modernist style. The Bauhaus University and the Liszt School of Music Weimar, attracted many students, specializing in art, media and design, architecture, civil engineering and music. The Bauhaus in Weimar lasted from 1919 to 1925, when it moved to Dessau
, after the newly-elected right-wing city council put pressure on the School by withdrawing funding and forcing its teachers to quit.
Many buildings in Weimar today have influences from the Bauhaus period. However, only one original Bauhaus building was constructed during 1919-1925, the Haus am Horn
, now used for exhibitions and events on Bauhaus culture. The Bauhaus Museum
, on Theaterplatz, offers an exhibition of works from the Bauhaus period in Weimar and screens an infomovie about the movement's influences on Weimar city.
In 1937, the Nazis constructed the Buchenwald concentration camp
, only eight kilometres from Weimar's city centre. The slogan Jedem das Seine
(literally "to each his own", but figuratively "everyone gets what he deserves") was placed over the camp's main entrance gate. Between July 1938 and April 1945, some 240,000 people were incarcerated in the camp by the Nazi regime, including 168 Western Allied POWs
. The number of deaths at Buchenwald
is estimated at 56,545. The Buchenwald concentration camp provided slave labour for local industry (arms industry of Wilhelm-Gustloff-Werk).
The Allied ground advance into Germany reached Weimar in April 1945, and the city surrendered to the US 80th Infantry Division on April 12, 1945. The residents of Weimar were ordered to walk through Buchenwald, to see what had been happening so close to the city, as documented in Billy Wilder
's film Death Mills
. The city ended up in the Soviet
zone of occupation, however, so US troops were soon replaced with Russian forces. From 1945 to 1950, the Soviet Union used the occupied Buchenwald concentration camp to imprison defeated Nazis and other Germans. The camp slogan remained . On 6 January 1950, the Soviets handed over Buchenwald to the East German Ministry of Internal Affairs.
for 1999.
On 2 September 2004, a fire broke out at the Duchess Anna Amalia Library
. The library contains a 13,000-volume collection including Goethe's masterpiece Faust
, in addition to a music
collection of the Duchess. An authentic Lutheran
Bible
from 1534 was saved from the fire. The damage stretched into the millions of dollars. The number of books in this historic library exceeded 1,000,000, of which 40,000 to 50,000 were destroyed past recovery. The library, which dates back to 1691, belongs to UNESCO
world heritage, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. The fire, with its destruction of much historical literature
, amounts to a huge cultural loss for Germany, Europe, and indeed the world. A number of books were shock-frozen in the city of Leipzig to save them from rotting.
On 24 October 2007 the library reopened. Visitors were advised to book their tickets many months in advance.
Weimar first celebrated the Onion Market in 1653. The 2011 Onion Market – the 358th – will see again over 300,000 visitors. Stalls typically offer onion plaits, themed arts and crafts and numerous onion-based foods, including onion cakes, onion soups and onion breads. The festival also hosts numerous beer gardens, live music, fairground attractions and a Ferris wheel.
There are several smaller theatre and cabaret venues other than the large "DNT" (Deutsches National Theater).
There are four cinemas including a 3-D cinema.
For a small city, Weimar is well served by city bus routes, which also serve all of the annex towns and villages. An hourly bus route serves the Buchenwald Memorial. There are also many places to rent bikes in the city centre. Weimar is part of the Goethe cycle tour route and the Ilm Valley cycle tour.
Weimar is connected by one motorway, the Autobahn A4 (A4) and two routes: B7 and B85
Weimar station
is on the ICE express train line (ICE) from Frankfurt
, to Dresden
and Berlin, with trains stopping every hour. The ICE service to Leipzig takes 50 minutes and the service to Dresden takes two hours. There are frequent train services to neighboroung cities Erfurt
(westbound) and Jena
(eastbound), taking approximately 15 minutes to either city. Though, recently many ICEs don't stop in Weimar any more.
The nearest airports are Erfurt and Leipzig-Halle.
with: Blois
, France
Shiraz
, Iran
Hämeenlinna
, Finland
Siena
, Italy
Trier
, Germany
City
A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...
in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
famous for its cultural heritage. It is located in the federal state of Thuringia
Thuringia
The Free State of Thuringia is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country.It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states....
, north of the Thüringer Wald, east of Erfurt
Erfurt
Erfurt is the capital city of Thuringia and the main city nearest to the geographical centre of Germany, located 100 km SW of Leipzig, 150 km N of Nuremberg and 180 km SE of Hannover. Erfurt Airport can be reached by plane via Munich. It lies in the southern part of the Thuringian...
, and southwest of Halle
Halle, Saxony-Anhalt
Halle is the largest city in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is also called Halle an der Saale in order to distinguish it from the town of Halle in North Rhine-Westphalia...
and Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
. Its current population is approximately 65,000. The oldest record of the city dates from the year 899. Weimar was the capital of the Duchy (after 1815 the Grand Duchy) of Saxe-Weimar
Saxe-Weimar
Saxe-Weimar was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine branch of the Wettin dynasty in present-day Thuringia. The chief town and capital was Weimar.-Division of Leipzig:...
(German Sachsen-Weimar).
Weimar's cultural heritage is vast. It is most often recognised as the place where Germany's first democratic constitution was signed after the First World War, giving its name to the Weimar Republic
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government...
period in German politics, of 1918–1933. However, the city was also the focal point of the German Enlightenment and home of the leading characters of the literary genre of Weimar Classicism
Weimar Classicism
Weimar Classicism is a cultural and literary movement of Europe. Followers attempted to establish a new humanism by synthesizing Romantic, classical and Enlightenment ideas...
, the writers Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, pictorial artist, biologist, theoretical physicist, and polymath. He is considered the supreme genius of modern German literature. His works span the fields of poetry, drama, prose, philosophy, and science. His Faust has been called the greatest long...
and Schiller
Friedrich Schiller
Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller was a German poet, philosopher, historian, and playwright. During the last seventeen years of his life , Schiller struck up a productive, if complicated, friendship with already famous and influential Johann Wolfgang von Goethe...
. The city was also the birthplace of the Bauhaus
Bauhaus
', commonly known simply as Bauhaus, was a school in Germany that combined crafts and the fine arts, and was famous for the approach to design that it publicized and taught. It operated from 1919 to 1933. At that time the German term stood for "School of Building".The Bauhaus school was founded by...
movement, founded in 1919 by Walter Gropius
Walter Gropius
Walter Adolph Georg Gropius was a German architect and founder of the Bauhaus School who, along with Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier, is widely regarded as one of the pioneering masters of modern architecture....
, with artists Wassily Kandinsky
Wassily Kandinsky
Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky was an influential Russian painter and art theorist. He is credited with painting the first purely-abstract works. Born in Moscow, Kandinsky spent his childhood in Odessa. He enrolled at the University of Moscow, studying law and economics...
, Paul Klee
Paul Klee
Paul Klee was born in Münchenbuchsee, Switzerland, and is considered both a German and a Swiss painter. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. He was, as well, a student of orientalism...
, Oskar Schlemmer
Oskar Schlemmer
Oskar Schlemmer was a German painter, sculptor, designer and choreographer associated with the Bauhaus school. In 1923 he was hired as Master of Form at the Bauhaus theatre workshop, after working some time at the workshop of sculpture...
, and Lyonel Feininger
Lyonel Feininger
Lyonel Charles Feininger was a German-American painter, and a leading exponent of Expressionism. He also worked as a caricaturist and comic strip artist.-Life and work:...
teaching in Weimar's Bauhaus School. Many places in the city centre have been designated as UNESCO World Heritage sites.
General
It is one of the smallest states in Germany. The city of Weimar is classified as an independent city district, in addition to the 17 districts (Landkreise) and 5 other independent cities of Thuringia. Weimar is the 4th largest area in Thuringia, with a population of approximately 65,000 people.The city limits of Weimar itself are approximately 7 km and the neighbouring cities are Jena
Jena
Jena is a university city in central Germany on the river Saale. It has a population of approx. 103,000 and is the second largest city in the federal state of Thuringia, after Erfurt.-History:Jena was first mentioned in an 1182 document...
and Erfurt
Erfurt
Erfurt is the capital city of Thuringia and the main city nearest to the geographical centre of Germany, located 100 km SW of Leipzig, 150 km N of Nuremberg and 180 km SE of Hannover. Erfurt Airport can be reached by plane via Munich. It lies in the southern part of the Thuringian...
, the capital of Thuringia. The city lies along the River Ilm
Ilm (Thuringia)
The Ilm is a long river in Thuringia, Germany. It is a left tributary of the Saale, into which it flows in Großheringen near Bad Kösen.Towns along the Ilm are Ilmenau, Stadtilm, Kranichfeld, Bad Berka, Weimar, Apolda and Bad Sulza....
. In the valley of the river Ilm river the federal Motorway 87 runs from Ilmenau to Leipzig and two railways: the Ilmbahn between Kranichfeld and Weimar and the highspeed railway from Berlin to Frankfurt am Main between Weimar and Großheringen.
The city is north-east of the Thuringian Forest, 25 minutes away by autobahn or train.
City districts
- Ehringsdorf
- Gaberndorf
- Gelmeroda
- Holzdorf
- Legefeld
- Niedergrunstedt
- Oberweimar
- Possendorf
- Schöndorf
- Süßenborn
- Taubach
- Tiefurt
- Tröbsdorf
History and Culture
Old High German
The term Old High German refers to the earliest stage of the German language and it conventionally covers the period from around 500 to 1050. Coherent written texts do not appear until the second half of the 8th century, and some treat the period before 750 as 'prehistoric' and date the start of...
wih 'holy' + mari 'standing water, swamp'. (Another theory derives the first element from OHG win 'meadow, pasture.') In 1410 it received city rights, although the growth of the city was severely affected by the 1424 fires.
In 1552 Weimar became the capital of the Duchy of Saxe-Weimar
Saxe-Weimar
Saxe-Weimar was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine branch of the Wettin dynasty in present-day Thuringia. The chief town and capital was Weimar.-Division of Leipzig:...
(German Sachsen-Weimar) and remained so until 1918.
18th and 19th centuries
During the regencies of Anna Amalia (1758–1775) and her son Carl August (1809–1828), Weimar became an important cultural centre of EuropeEurope
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, having been home to such luminaries as Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, pictorial artist, biologist, theoretical physicist, and polymath. He is considered the supreme genius of modern German literature. His works span the fields of poetry, drama, prose, philosophy, and science. His Faust has been called the greatest long...
, Schiller
Friedrich Schiller
Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller was a German poet, philosopher, historian, and playwright. During the last seventeen years of his life , Schiller struck up a productive, if complicated, friendship with already famous and influential Johann Wolfgang von Goethe...
, and Herder; and in music the piano virtuoso Hummel
Johann Nepomuk Hummel
Johann Nepomuk Hummel or Jan Nepomuk Hummel was an Austrian composer and virtuoso pianist. His music reflects the transition from the Classical to the Romantic musical era.- Life :...
(a pupil of Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
), Liszt
Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt ; ), was a 19th-century Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher.Liszt became renowned in Europe during the nineteenth century for his virtuosic skill as a pianist. He was said by his contemporaries to have been the most technically advanced pianist of his age...
, and Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
. Richard Strauss worked in Weimar for 5 years as second conductor in the acclaimed Staatskapelle Weimar (the court orchestra founded in 1491). Several of his encores for works such as Hansel and Gretel, Don Juan and Macbeth were performed by the Staatskapelle Weimar. It has been a site of pilgrimage
Pilgrimage
A pilgrimage is a journey or search of great moral or spiritual significance. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a person's beliefs and faith...
for the German intelligentsia since Goethe first moved to Weimar in the late 18th century. Goethe was also active in civic duties while living in Weimar. He served as Privy Councilor to the Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
The Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach was created in 1809 by the merger of the Ernestine duchies of Saxe-Weimar and Saxe-Eisenach. It was raised to a Grand duchy in 1815 by resolution of the Vienna Congress. In 1877, it officially changed its name to the Grand Duchy of Saxony , but this name was...
for an extended period. The tombs of Goethe and Schiller, as well as their archives, may be found in the city. Goethe's Elective Affinities
Elective Affinities
Elective Affinities , also translated under the title Kindred by Choice, is the third novel by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, published in 1809. The title is taken from a scientific term once used to describe the tendency of chemical species to combine with certain substances or species in preference...
(1809) is set around the city of Weimar.
Weimar Republic
The period in German historyHistory of Germany
The concept of Germany as a distinct region in central Europe can be traced to Roman commander Julius Caesar, who referred to the unconquered area east of the Rhine as Germania, thus distinguishing it from Gaul , which he had conquered. The victory of the Germanic tribes in the Battle of the...
from 1919 to 1933 is commonly referred to as the Weimar Republic
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government...
, as the Republic's constitution
Constitution
A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...
was drafted here because the capital, Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, with its street riot
Riot
A riot is a form of civil disorder characterized often by what is thought of as disorganized groups lashing out in a sudden and intense rash of violence against authority, property or people. While individuals may attempt to lead or control a riot, riots are thought to be typically chaotic and...
ing after the 1918 German Revolution
German Revolution
The German Revolution was the politically-driven civil conflict in Germany at the end of World War I, which resulted in the replacement of Germany's imperial government with a republic...
, was considered too dangerous for the National Assembly
Weimar National Assembly
The Weimar National Assembly governed Germany from February 6, 1919 to June 6, 1920 and drew up the new constitution which governed Germany from 1919 to 1933, technically remaining in effect even until the end of Nazi rule in 1945...
to use it as a meeting place.
The Bauhaus Movement
Walter GropiusWalter Gropius
Walter Adolph Georg Gropius was a German architect and founder of the Bauhaus School who, along with Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier, is widely regarded as one of the pioneering masters of modern architecture....
founded the Bauhaus
Bauhaus
', commonly known simply as Bauhaus, was a school in Germany that combined crafts and the fine arts, and was famous for the approach to design that it publicized and taught. It operated from 1919 to 1933. At that time the German term stood for "School of Building".The Bauhaus school was founded by...
School and movement in Weimar in 1919. The School aimed to teach and develop modernist style. The Bauhaus University and the Liszt School of Music Weimar, attracted many students, specializing in art, media and design, architecture, civil engineering and music. The Bauhaus in Weimar lasted from 1919 to 1925, when it moved to Dessau
Dessau
Dessau is a town in Germany on the junction of the rivers Mulde and Elbe, in the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt. Since 1 July 2007, it is part of the merged town Dessau-Roßlau. Population of Dessau proper: 77,973 .-Geography:...
, after the newly-elected right-wing city council put pressure on the School by withdrawing funding and forcing its teachers to quit.
Many buildings in Weimar today have influences from the Bauhaus period. However, only one original Bauhaus building was constructed during 1919-1925, the Haus am Horn
Haus am horn
The Haus am Horn was built for the Weimar Bauhaus's exhibition of July through September 1923. It was designed by Georg Muche, a painter and a teacher at the Bauhaus. Other Bauhaus instructors, such as Adolf Meyer and Walter Gropius, assisted with the technical aspects of the house's design...
, now used for exhibitions and events on Bauhaus culture. The Bauhaus Museum
Bauhaus Museum, Weimar
The Bauhaus-Museum is a museum dedicated to the architectural style of Bauhaus. Since 1995 it has been housed in a former coach house on Theaterplatz rebuilt by Clemens Wenzeslaus Coudray...
, on Theaterplatz, offers an exhibition of works from the Bauhaus period in Weimar and screens an infomovie about the movement's influences on Weimar city.
Nazi Germany and World War II
Buchenwald concentration camp
Buchenwald concentration camp was a German Nazi concentration camp established on the Ettersberg near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937, one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps on German soil.Camp prisoners from all over Europe and Russia—Jews, non-Jewish Poles and Slovenes,...
, only eight kilometres from Weimar's city centre. The slogan Jedem das Seine
Jedem das Seine
"'" is a German translation of "'", the Latin phrase meaning "to each his own" or "to each what he deserves."- Antiquity :The Latin phrase goes back to an old Greek principle of justice which translates literally into English as "to each his own"...
(literally "to each his own", but figuratively "everyone gets what he deserves") was placed over the camp's main entrance gate. Between July 1938 and April 1945, some 240,000 people were incarcerated in the camp by the Nazi regime, including 168 Western Allied POWs
Phil Lamason
Phillip John Lamason DFC & Bar was a pilot in the Royal New Zealand Air Force during the Second World War, who rose to prominence as the senior officer in charge of 168 Allied airmen taken to Buchenwald concentration camp, Germany, in August 1944...
. The number of deaths at Buchenwald
Number of deaths in Buchenwald
The Buchenwald concentration camp was established in 1937, 10 kilometers from Weimar. The prisoners of the camp were Jews, political prisoners, religious prisoners and prisoners of war. They came from Russia, Poland, France, Germany, Austria and other countries....
is estimated at 56,545. The Buchenwald concentration camp provided slave labour for local industry (arms industry of Wilhelm-Gustloff-Werk).
The Allied ground advance into Germany reached Weimar in April 1945, and the city surrendered to the US 80th Infantry Division on April 12, 1945. The residents of Weimar were ordered to walk through Buchenwald, to see what had been happening so close to the city, as documented in Billy Wilder
Billy Wilder
Billy Wilder was an Austro-Hungarian born American filmmaker, screenwriter, producer, artist, and journalist, whose career spanned more than 50 years and 60 films. He is regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of Hollywood's golden age...
's film Death Mills
Death Mills
Death Mills, or Die Todesmühlen, is a 1945 American propaganda documentary film directed by Billy Wilder and produced by the United States Department of War. It was intended for German audiences to educate them about the atrocities committed by the Nazi regime...
. The city ended up in the Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
zone of occupation, however, so US troops were soon replaced with Russian forces. From 1945 to 1950, the Soviet Union used the occupied Buchenwald concentration camp to imprison defeated Nazis and other Germans. The camp slogan remained . On 6 January 1950, the Soviets handed over Buchenwald to the East German Ministry of Internal Affairs.
German Democratic Republic (East Germany)
Weimar was part of the German Democratic Republic (DDR, East Germany) from 1949 to 1990.Recent years
The European Council of Ministers selected the city as European Capital of CultureEuropean Capital of Culture
The European Capital of Culture is a city designated by theEuropean Union for a period of one calendar year during which it organises a series of cultural events with a strong European dimension....
for 1999.
On 2 September 2004, a fire broke out at the Duchess Anna Amalia Library
Duchess Anna Amalia Library
The Duchess Anna Amalia Library in Weimar, Thuringia, Germany, houses a major collection of German literature and historical documents...
. The library contains a 13,000-volume collection including Goethe's masterpiece Faust
Faust
Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend; a highly successful scholar, but also dissatisfied with his life, and so makes a deal with the devil, exchanging his soul for unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasures. Faust's tale is the basis for many literary, artistic, cinematic, and musical...
, in addition to a music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
collection of the Duchess. An authentic Lutheran
Martin Luther
Martin Luther was a German priest, professor of theology and iconic figure of the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517...
Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
from 1534 was saved from the fire. The damage stretched into the millions of dollars. The number of books in this historic library exceeded 1,000,000, of which 40,000 to 50,000 were destroyed past recovery. The library, which dates back to 1691, belongs to UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
world heritage, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. The fire, with its destruction of much historical literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
, amounts to a huge cultural loss for Germany, Europe, and indeed the world. A number of books were shock-frozen in the city of Leipzig to save them from rotting.
On 24 October 2007 the library reopened. Visitors were advised to book their tickets many months in advance.
Liszt Year 2011
Weimar and the state Thuringia are celebrating Liszt's 200th birthday in 2011.Places of interest
- National Goethe Museum and Goethe House
- Goethe's Gartenhaus
- Schiller House and the Schiller Museum
- Historical Cemetery with final resting place for Goethe, and Schiller's coffin but without Schiller's mortal remains
- Ilm Park
- Wittumspalais
- Liszt Museum
- Palace Museum
- German National Theatre
- Neues Museum Weimar
- Bauhaus Museum
- Main building of the Bauhaus University (planned by Henry van de Velde)
- Buchenwald Memorial
- Nietzsche Archiv
- Schlossmuseum
- Schloss TiefurtSchloss TiefurtTiefurt House is a small stately home on the Ilm in the Tiefurt quarter of Weimar, about 4km east of the city centre. It was the summer residence of duchess Anna Amalia of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel.- History :...
- Schloss Kochberg
- Schloss Belvedere
- Eisenbahnmuseum Weimar (Train Museum)
Onion Market
The Onion Market (Weimarer Zwiebelmarkt) is an annual festival held in October in Weimar and it is Thuringia's largest festival. The festival is held over 3 days and approximately 500 stalls and more than 100 stage performances are put up across the city.Weimar first celebrated the Onion Market in 1653. The 2011 Onion Market – the 358th – will see again over 300,000 visitors. Stalls typically offer onion plaits, themed arts and crafts and numerous onion-based foods, including onion cakes, onion soups and onion breads. The festival also hosts numerous beer gardens, live music, fairground attractions and a Ferris wheel.
Famous residents of Weimar
|
Nina Hagen Nina Hagen is a German singer and actress.-Early years:Hagen was born as Catharina Hagen in the former East Berlin, East Germany, the daughter of Hans Hagen , a scriptwriter, and Eva-Maria Hagen, an actress and singer... Johann Gottfried Herder Johann Gottfried von Herder was a German philosopher, theologian, poet, and literary critic. He is associated with the periods of Enlightenment, Sturm und Drang, and Weimar Classicism.-Biography:... Johann Gottfried Walther Johann Gottfried Walther was a German music theorist, organist, composer, and lexicographer of the Baroque era.Walther was born at Erfurt... John Horrocks John Horrocks is the name of:* John Horrocks , British cotton manufacturer* John Ainsworth Horrocks, South Australian explorer... Johann Nepomuk Hummel Johann Nepomuk Hummel or Jan Nepomuk Hummel was an Austrian composer and virtuoso pianist. His music reflects the transition from the Classical to the Romantic musical era.- Life :... Johannes Itten Johannes Itten was a Swiss expressionist painter, designer, teacher, writer and theorist associated with the Bauhaus school... Joseph Joachim Joseph Joachim was a Hungarian violinist, conductor, composer and teacher. A close collaborator of Johannes Brahms, he is widely regarded as one of the most significant violinists of the 19th century.-Origins:... Wassily Kandinsky Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky was an influential Russian painter and art theorist. He is credited with painting the first purely-abstract works. Born in Moscow, Kandinsky spent his childhood in Odessa. He enrolled at the University of Moscow, studying law and economics... Harry Graf Kessler Harry Clément Ulrich Kessler was an Anglo-German count, diplomat, writer, and patron of modern art. His diaries "Berlin in Lights" published in 1971 revealed anecdotes and details of the artistic and theatrical life in Europe, mostly in Germany, from the collapse of Germany at the end of World War... Paul Klee Paul Klee was born in Münchenbuchsee, Switzerland, and is considered both a German and a Swiss painter. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. He was, as well, a student of orientalism... Franz Liszt Franz Liszt ; ), was a 19th-century Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher.Liszt became renowned in Europe during the nineteenth century for his virtuosic skill as a pianist. He was said by his contemporaries to have been the most technically advanced pianist of his age... Martin Luther Martin Luther was a German priest, professor of theology and iconic figure of the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517... László Moholy-Nagy László Moholy-Nagy was a Hungarian painter and photographer as well as professor in the Bauhaus school. He was highly influenced by constructivism and a strong advocate of the integration of technology and industry into the arts.-Early life:... |
Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche was a 19th-century German philosopher, poet, composer and classical philologist... Friedrich Preller the Elder Friedrich Preller the Elder was a German landscape painter and etcher. From 1832 he was a professor at the Fürstlichen freien Zeichenschule in Weimar. He was the father of the artist Friedrich Preller the Younger.-Life:He was born at Eisenach... Friedrich Preller the Younger Friedrich Preller der Jüngere was a German painter of landscapes and marine scenes. His father Friedrich Preller the Elder was also a painter.... Friedrich Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller was a German poet, philosopher, historian, and playwright. During the last seventeen years of his life , Schiller struck up a productive, if complicated, friendship with already famous and influential Johann Wolfgang von Goethe... Oskar Schlemmer Oskar Schlemmer was a German painter, sculptor, designer and choreographer associated with the Bauhaus school. In 1923 he was hired as Master of Form at the Bauhaus theatre workshop, after working some time at the workshop of sculpture... Arthur Schopenhauer Arthur Schopenhauer was a German philosopher known for his pessimism and philosophical clarity. At age 25, he published his doctoral dissertation, On the Fourfold Root of the Principle of Sufficient Reason, which examined the four separate manifestations of reason in the phenomenal... Frédéric Soret Frédéric Soret, , Swiss private scholar in physics and Oriental numismatics.- Biography :... Rudolf Steiner Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner was an Austrian philosopher, social reformer, architect, and esotericist. He gained initial recognition as a literary critic and cultural philosopher... Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till... Henry van de Velde Henry Clemens Van de Velde was a Belgian Flemish painter, architect and interior designer. Together with Victor Horta and Paul Hankar he could be considered one of the main founders and representatives of Art Nouveau in Belgium... Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas... Christoph Martin Wieland Christoph Martin Wieland was a German poet and writer.- Biography :He was born at Oberholzheim , which then belonged to the Free Imperial City of Biberach an der Riss in the south-east of the modern-day state of Baden-Württemberg... Carl Zeiss Carl Zeiss was a German maker of optical instruments commonly known for the company he founded, Carl Zeiss Jena . Zeiss made contributions to lens manufacturing that have aided the modern production of lenses... |
Universities
- Bauhaus-Universität WeimarBauhaus-Universität WeimarThe Bauhaus-University Weimar is a university located in Weimar, Germany and specializes in the artistic and technical fields. Established in 1860 as the Great Ducal Saxon Art School, it gained collegiate status on 3 June 1910 and received its present name in 1996...
(formerly known as Art Academy of Weimar and after 1945 University for Architecture and Civil Engineering) currently has approximately 4,500 students in 4 faculties (Architecture, Engineering, Design, and Media). The buildings of the University have been on the UNESCO World Heritage list since 1996. - Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt (affiliated with the Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena and the Institut für Musikwissenschaft Weimar-Jena) currently has approximately 850 students.
- Europäische Jugendbildungs- und Jugendbegegnungsstätte Weimar
Archives
- Thuringia Central Archive
- Weimar City Archives
- Goethe and Schiller Archive
- Modernist Archive
Libraries
- State Library
- Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek (HAAB) (pictured)
- Bauhaus University Library (Universitätsbibliothek/UB der Bauhaus-Universität)
- Library for the University of Music (Bibliothek der Hochschule für Musik)
- GDR Library at Taubach
Literary Societies
- Goethe-Gesellschaft (Weimar, 1885)
- Gesellschaft der Bibliophilen (Weimar, 1899)
- German Schiller Society
- Deutsche Shakespeare Gesellschaft
Nightlife
There are several clubs with live music once or twice a week. The two student clubs in the city centre also feature disco and live music events on Friday- and Saturday nights (Studentenclub Schützengasse, Kasseturm).There are several smaller theatre and cabaret venues other than the large "DNT" (Deutsches National Theater).
There are four cinemas including a 3-D cinema.
Transport
Weimar is connected by one motorway, the Autobahn A4 (A4) and two routes: B7 and B85
Weimar station
Weimar station
Weimar station is the main station in the city of Weimar in the German state of Thuringia, located on the Thuringian Railway. It is an Intercity-Express stop on the line between Frankfurt am Main and Dresden. Weimar station is classified by Deutsche Bahn as a category 2 station. It is officially...
is on the ICE express train line (ICE) from Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
, to Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
and Berlin, with trains stopping every hour. The ICE service to Leipzig takes 50 minutes and the service to Dresden takes two hours. There are frequent train services to neighboroung cities Erfurt
Erfurt
Erfurt is the capital city of Thuringia and the main city nearest to the geographical centre of Germany, located 100 km SW of Leipzig, 150 km N of Nuremberg and 180 km SE of Hannover. Erfurt Airport can be reached by plane via Munich. It lies in the southern part of the Thuringian...
(westbound) and Jena
Jena
Jena is a university city in central Germany on the river Saale. It has a population of approx. 103,000 and is the second largest city in the federal state of Thuringia, after Erfurt.-History:Jena was first mentioned in an 1182 document...
(eastbound), taking approximately 15 minutes to either city. Though, recently many ICEs don't stop in Weimar any more.
The nearest airports are Erfurt and Leipzig-Halle.
International relations
Weimar is twinnedTown twinning
Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...
with: Blois
Blois
Blois is the capital of Loir-et-Cher department in central France, situated on the banks of the lower river Loire between Orléans and Tours.-History:...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Shiraz
Shiraz
Shiraz may refer to:* Shiraz, Iran, a city in Iran* Shiraz County, an administrative subdivision of Iran* Vosketap, Armenia, formerly called ShirazPeople:* Hovhannes Shiraz, Armenian poet* Ara Shiraz, Armenian sculptor...
, Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
Hämeenlinna
Hämeenlinna
Hämeenlinna is a city and municipality of about inhabitants in the heart of the historical province of Häme in the south of Finland and is the birthplace of composer Jean Sibelius. Today, it belongs to the region of Tavastia Proper, and until 2010 it was the residence city for the Governor of the...
, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
Siena
Siena
Siena is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena.The historic centre of Siena has been declared by UNESCO a World Heritage Site. It is one of the nation's most visited tourist attractions, with over 163,000 international arrivals in 2008...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
Trier
Trier
Trier, historically called in English Treves is a city in Germany on the banks of the Moselle. It is the oldest city in Germany, founded in or before 16 BC....
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...