Weimar Things to Do

The cemetary for fallen Soviet soldiers who died liberating the country from Hitler is a touching memorial to the many millions who died fighting that dictator's regime. Its location in the Park an der Ilm is serene, subtle and respectful. It is the perfect peaceful resting place for those who gave their lives.

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Weimar's marketplace is a great place to start your tour of the city. Its central location makes it perfect for a base to orientate yourself from, and it is full of colour, life and beautiful buildings. On the east side is the Stadthaus and neighbouring Cranachhaus, and opposite (pictured) is the neo-Gothic Rathaus. It's also the location of the Elephant Hotel, a favourite of Hitler and the GDR's Stasi secret police.

Great insight into the history of the Ginkgo. Great shop in the basement where you can buy things made of Ginkgo or with it´s form.

March - Oct:
Mon-Fri 10am- 17:30 pm
Sat-Sun 10am- 15:30 pm

Ginkgo Museum
Windischenstr. 1 - D- 99423 Weimar
Tel: +49 (0)3643-805452
Fax: +49 (0)3643-805453

Don´t miss the Goethe Ginkgo at the opposite of Duchess Anna Amalia Library

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The German National Theatre in Weimar was built in 1908 and rebuilt after it was destroyed during WW2. It was used in 1919 to drawn up the constitution for the new German Reich and hence the label it was given of the ‘Weimar Republic.’ The building has been rebuilt a number of times and has several artistic claims. Goethe was the director here from 1791 to 1817, and Strauss and Liszt were its musical directors during the late 19th century.

The Bauhaus School and movement was founded in Weimar in 1919 by Walter Gropius and remained there until the Bauhaus was moved to Dessau in 1925. It was the twentieth century's most important school of design, architecture and art and its influence spread across the world after it was dissolved by the Nazis and its main figures moved to other countries. This laid the foundation for the success of the school worldwide and its programme and products have maintained their influence on design up to the present day.

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On the boundary of the city and the magnificent Park an der Ilm is Weimar's stunning palace. It comprises of two parts, the colourful portal and tower remains of the original Rennaissance palace, and the newer rectangular lines of the Neoclassical model. They stand together to make for a grand imperial palace that seems to far outweigh the size of the town. It seems to fit more with the size of the town's cultural influence more than its political or economic power. The palace forms an impressive part of the Weimar cityscape, and offers great views from wherever it is seen: approaching from the Marktplatz, the Park an der Ilm, or as pictured here from the Platz der Demokratie.

The Duchess Anna Amalia Library in Weimar, Thuringia, Germany houses a major collection of German literature and historical documents. The library contains:
1,000,000 books
2,000 medieval and early modern manuscripts
600 ancestral registers
10,000 maps
4,000 musical scripts

The research library today has approximately 850,000 volumes with collection emphasis on the German literature. Among its special collections is an important Shakespeare collection of approximately 10,000 volumes, as well as a 16th century Bible connected to Martin Luther.
Part of the collection was burned in a fire on September 2, 2004, which destroyed 30,000 irreplaceable volumes, with another 20,000 severely damaged. However, some 6,000 historical works were saved, including a 1534 Lutheran Bible and a collection of Alexander von Humboldt's papers, by being passed hand-over-hand out of the building.

Anna Amalia Duchess of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (October 24, 1739–April 10, 1807) was an influential cultural force in Weimar, Germany in the 18th century.
The daughter of Karl I, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, she was born at Wolfenbüttel and married Ernest, Duke of Saxe-Weimar in 1756. Ernest died in 1758, leaving her regent for their infant son, Carl August.
During Carl August's protracted minority she administered the affairs of the duchy with notable prudence, strengthening its resources and improving its position in spite of the troubles of the Seven Years' War.
As a patron of the arts and literature, she attracted to Weimar many of the most eminent men in Germany, including Johann Gottfried Herder, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller. She hired Christoph Martin Wieland, a poet and translator of William Shakespeare, to tutor her son. She also established the Duchess Anna Amalia Library.
Anna Amalia was also a notable composer; among her significant works is a Singspiel called Erwin und Elmire (1776), basing her musical on a text by Goethe.

Along with the Goethe and Schiller Archives and the Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek, the Goethe National Museum is one of the three main administrative departments of the Stiftung Weimarer Klassik. These departments together are responsible for the Foundation's holdings. The museum administration is in charge of an outstanding ensemble of monuments and museums in and around Weimar: ten houses of key cultural figures from the fields of literature, music and philosophy; the new permanent exhibitions on Weimar Classicism; ten castles and residential palaces and three historic burial grounds. The attraction of these monuments and museums can be explained by their powerful depiction of Classicism, from its early manifestations to its heyday, and also of later epochs right through to the so-called ''New Weimar'' era at the turn of the last century. The scope of the collections, which have been assembled over a period of more than 100 years in these spaces, is correspondingly broad and varied.
The following belong to the Goethe National Museum:
Goethe's House
The permanent exhibition "Multiple Reflections - Weimar Classicism from 1759 to 1832" (from 1.5.1999)
The building housing the collections
Goethe's Garden House in the Park on the Ilm
Schiller's House
The Widow's Palace with the Wieland Museum
The Royal Mausoleum with the Russian Orthodox Chapel in the Historic Cemetery
The "Kassengewölbe" (Funeral Vault) in St John's Cemetery
The Roman House in the Park on the Ilm
The Kirms-Krackow House
Franz Liszt's House
The caves in the Park on the Ilm
The Nietzsche Archives
Tiefurt Palace
Wieland's Oßmannstedt Estate
The Renaissance Castle and Rococo Palace of Dornburg
Kochberg Castle with its Park and Amateur Theatre
The Gabelbach Hunting Lodge near Ilmenau
The Stützerbach Goethe Museum and Bauerbach Schiller Museum near Meiningen
Ettersburg Palace
Belvedere Palace