Weimar

Weimar is a city in the German state of Thuringia. It is in Central Germany between Erfurt and Jena. About 65,000 people live there, and the larger area has around 500,000 people.

Weimar is famous for its culture and history. During the German Enlightenment, the city was home to great writers like Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller. They helped shape literature. In the 1800s, famous composers such as Franz Liszt made Weimar a center for music. Later, artists started the Bauhaus movement there, which became an important school for design.

In the 20th century, Weimar played a big role in politics. It was where Germany's first democratic constitution was signed after the First World War. This period is known as the Weimar Republic. Many important buildings in Weimar are now UNESCO World Heritage Sites. They attract many visitors each year. The city also has well-known schools and courts. In 1999, it was named the European Capital of Culture.

History

Prehistoric times

Archaeological finds show that people lived in the Weimar part of the Ilm valley from the 3rd to 6th centuries. Many early settlements were in the area of today’s city.

Middle Ages

The oldest records about Weimar date to 899. Its name changed over time, coming from Old High German words meaning “holy” and “standing water, swamp”. Weimar was the seat of the County of Weimar, first mentioned in 949, which was very powerful in early Middle Ages Thuringia. In 1062 it joined the County of Orlamünde, forming the County of Weimar-Orlamünde until 1346. It then passed to the Wettins.

Weimar grew around a wooden castle and two small churches. In 1240, a monastery was founded. The town was founded soon after and became an independent parish in 1249. As the influence of the Weimar counts faded, the town became less important. After joining Wettin territory in 1346, Weimar’s development improved. The Wettins granted privileges to citizens, and Weimar grew during the 15th century with a town hall and the main church. By 1438, Weimar had trade rights for woad, a plant used to make blue dye. The castle and walls were finished in the 16th century, making Weimar a full city.

Early Modern Period

After the Treaty of Leipzig in 1485, Weimar became part of the Ernestine branch of the Wettins, with Wittenberg as capital. The Protestant Reformation came to Weimar in 1525, and Martin Luther visited several times. When the Ernestines lost the Schmalkaldic War in 1547, their capital Wittenberg went to others, so Weimar became the new residence in 1552. It remained the residence until the end of the monarchy in 1918. The court brought wealth to Weimar, leading to construction booms. The 17th century brought decline due to trade changes and territorial splits, but another construction boom happened in the early 18th century. The city walls were torn down in 1757, and Weimar expanded. The grand Schloss (palace) was built between 1789 and 1914. Johann Sebastian Bach worked as the court’s organist in Weimar from 1708 to 1717.

Golden or Classical Age (1758–1832)

The time from 1758 to 1832, especially under Anna Amalia and her son Carl August, is called the “golden” or “classical” age because of Weimar’s rich cultural life. The city became a cultural center in Europe, home to writers like Goethe, Schiller, Herder, Wieland, and Bertuch, and musician Hummel. Goethe moved to Weimar in 1775 and served the Grand Duke. Their tombs and archives are in the city. Goethe’s book Elective Affinities is set in Weimar. The dukes were liberal and tolerant during this time, and a new constitution was created in 1816.

Silver Ages and The New Weimar (1832–1918)

After Goethe’s death, Weimar stayed a cultural center, especially in music. In 1842, Franz Liszt moved to Weimar to become the court conductor. He organized premieres of Wagner’s Lohengrin and Saint Saëns’ Samson et Delilah. The Weimar School of Music, Germany’s first orchestra school, was founded in 1872. Richard Strauss worked in Weimar between 1889 and 1894. Friedrich Nietzsche moved to Weimar in 1897 and died there in 1900.

In 1860, the Weimar Saxon-Grand Ducal Art School was founded, starting academic arts education in Weimar. This led to the Weimar School of painting. In 1902, the Kunstgewerbeschule Weimar was founded, beginning “The New Weimar”. Many archives, societies, and museums were created to protect Weimar’s heritage. Weimar connected to the railway in 1846 and grew in population and construction. Despite this growth, Weimar did not become industrialized and stayed a city of clerks and artists. During the German Revolution of 1918–19, the last grand duke had to leave, and Weimar’s role changed.

Weimar Republic

The years from 1919 to 1933 are called the Weimar Republic because Germany’s constitution was written there, not in Berlin. Berlin was too unsafe due to riots, so Weimar was chosen because it was calm, central, and had good meeting places. In 1920, Thuringia was formed, and Weimar became its capital. In 1919, Walter Gropius founded the Bauhaus School, which stayed in Weimar until 1925. Only one Bauhaus building, the Haus am Horn, was built there. The Weimar Republic had conflicts between progressive and conservative groups. After 1929, conservative groups gained power, and Weimar became an early center of a certain political movement.

Nazi Germany and World War II

Weimar was important to Nazi leaders for two reasons: it was where the Weimar Republic began, and it had been a center of German culture. In 1926, the Nazi party held its convention there. In 1933, the first Nazi concentration camps were set up near Weimar. The city was bombed in 1945, damaging some buildings, but most were restored. After the war, Weimar became part of the Soviet occupation zone.

Since 1945

After World War II, the Soviet Union used Buchenwald as a prison until 1950. In 1948, Erfurt became the capital of Thuringia, reducing Weimar’s influence. After German reunification in 1990, Weimar restored many damaged sites. In 1996 and 1998, it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was named European Capital of Culture in 1999. Tourism grew, and Weimar became popular for people working in nearby Erfurt and Jena. In 2004, a fire damaged the Duchess Anna Amalia Library, but many valuable books were saved. The library reopened in 2007.

Geography and demographics

Weimar is in the valley of the Ilm river, which flows into the Saale. It is near the Thuringian Basin, a farming area, between the Harz mountains to the north and the Thuringian Forest to the southwest. The land in Weimar is hilly, with the center about 200 meters above sea level. North of the city is Ettersberg, a mountain that is 482 meters tall. The southern areas have hills up to 370 meters. The eastern, central, and western parts of the city are used for farming, while Ettersberg and some southern spots are wooded.

Weimar has warm summers with temperatures around 23 °C during the day and 12 °C at night. Winters are chilly, with daytime temperatures around 2 °C and nighttime temperatures around -3 °C. Rain falls throughout the year, averaging about 535 mm annually, and light snow usually occurs from December to February but doesn’t stay long.

The city borders several nearby towns and villages and is divided into many smaller districts, including the old town center and newer areas. Some outer districts were added to Weimar during the 1900s and still feel rural.

Weimar’s population has grown slowly over the years. It was a small town for many centuries but grew when it became important in the 1500s. By the mid-1900s, the population reached around 65,000, where it has stayed fairly steady. Most people in Weimar are from Thuringia, with some from nearby areas and other countries. The city has fewer people who are not from Germany than many other German cities. The economy has improved in recent years, and most people in Weimar do not follow a specific religion.

Culture, sights and cityscape

World Heritage Sites

Weimar is a special place because two important World Heritage Sites are there:

• The Classical Weimar World Heritage Site has 11 places that show how Weimar was a center of important ideas during the Enlightenment in the 1700s and early 1800s.
• The Bauhaus and its Sites in Weimar, Dessau and Bernau World Heritage Site has six places, two of them in Weimar, that show the influence of the Bauhaus art school on architecture and design in the 1900s.

Museums

Weimar has many museums where you can learn about famous people and history:

• The Goethe-Nationalmuseum at Frauenplan shows the life of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in the house where he lived.
• Goethe's garden house in the Park an der Ilm has exhibits about Goethe and his love for nature.
• The Schiller-Museum at Schillerstraße shows the life of Friedrich Schiller in the house where he lived.
• The Goethe- und Schiller-Archiv at Hans-Wahl-Straße collects items from Goethe, Schiller and other artists. It joined the UNESCO Memory of the World Programme in 2001.
• The Wittumspalais at Theaterplatz shows what life was like in an early-modern court, with furniture and porcelain.
• The Liszt-Haus at Marienstraße shows the life of Franz Liszt in the house where he spent his summers.
• The Nietzsche-Archiv at Humboldtstraße shows the life and work of Friedrich Nietzsche.
• The Gedenkstätte Buchenwald remembers the people who suffered at the Buchenwald concentration camp.
• The Bauhaus-Museum at Theaterplatz has exhibits about the Bauhaus design school.
• The Schlossmuseum inside the residence castle shows old antiques and objects from court life.
• The Duchess Anna Amalia Library at Platz der Demokratie is an important old library with many printed items.
• The Neues Museum at Weimarplatz has exhibits of modern art.
• The Stadtmuseum at Karl-Liebknecht-Straße shows the history of Weimar.
• The Kunsthalle Harry Graf Kessler at Goetheplatz has changing exhibits of modern artists.
• The Haus am Horn at Am Horn street was the first building designed using Bauhaus ideas.
• The Fürstengruft at the historic cemetery is a tomb for famous people from Weimar including Goethe and Schiller.
• The Museum für Ur- und Frühgeschichte Thüringens at Humboldtstraße shows objects from early Thuringian history.
• The Deutsches Bienenmuseum at Ilmstraße in Oberweimar is the only museum in Germany just about bees and beekeeping.

Cityscape

Weimar's old city center is between the Ilm river, Grabenstraße, Goetheplatz and Schillerstraße. The two main squares are Marktplatz, with the town hall, and Herderplatz, with the main church. Many old buildings were destroyed by fires, so most buildings there are from the 1600s and 1700s. Weimar also has two older parts of the city: Jakobsvorstadt around St. James' Church and another area around Frauenplan square. The city grew in the late 1800s and early 1900s, and during a certain time period, new housing areas were built in the west and north. After 1990, the outer parts of Weimar grew.

Sights and architectural heritage

Religious buildings

Weimar's main church is St. Peter and Paul on Herderplatz, rebuilt after a fire around 1500. It was changed in the 1700s. St. James is another old church, rebuilt in 1712. The Roman Catholic church is dedicated to the Sacred Heart and was built between 1888 and 1891. There is also a Russian Orthodox Chapel in the historic cemetery, built in 1862.

Castles and palaces

Weimar has many old castles and palaces because it was where rulers lived. The biggest is the Stadtschloss at Burgplatz, started after a fire in 1774. Other important places include the Fürstenhaus, the Green Castle, the Yellow Castle, the Red Castle, and the Wittumspalais. There are also beautiful country homes around Weimar with lovely parks.

Other sights

• The town hall at Marktplatz was built between 1837 and 1841 after the old one burned down.
• The two main buildings of Bauhaus University at Marienstraße show early-modern architecture from the early 1900s.
• The German National Theatre at Theaterplatz was built in 1906/07. The Weimar National Assembly wrote the Weimar Constitution here in 1919.
• The Park an der Ilm is a big park along the Ilm river. It has Goethe's garden house and the Römisches Haus.
• The Historic Cemetery has the graves of Goethe, Schiller and other famous people.
• The Goethe-Schiller-Denkmal at Theaterplatz is a famous statue of Goethe and Schiller.

Events

Weimar holds special events, including the Yiddish Summer Weimar festival celebrating music, song, and culture. The Onion Market in October is Thuringia's largest festival, with stalls selling onions, foods, crafts, and live music. There are also clubs with live music, a student club, smaller theatres and cabarets, cinemas, and a bowling alley.

Economy and infrastructure

Agriculture, industry and services

The land around Weimar is good for farming. About half of the city's area is used for growing crops like grains, corn, and oilseed. Special local products include potatoes from Heichelheim, used in Thuringian dumplings, and onions from Heldrungen and Oldisleben, sold at the Weimar Onion Market each October. The area also produces wine from Saale-Unstrut near Bad Sulza.

Weimar has never been a major industrial city, but it had several large factories until 1990. After Germany reunited, most factories closed. The government helped start new businesses, and by around 2006, the economy began to improve. Today, Weimar has many small and medium-sized companies, especially in electronics and engineering. Big companies with factories in Weimar include Bayer, Coca-Cola, and Hydrema. The city focuses more on tourism and services than on new factories. Tourism is very important, with many visitors and hotel stays each year. Nearby cities like Erfurt and Jena help with services such as shopping and hospitals.

Transport

By rail

Weimar is linked by train to cities like Leipzig, Frankfurt, Kassel, Gera, Jena, Kranichfeld, Bad Berka, Fulda, Dresden, Göttingen, Eisenach, Halle, Naumburg, Altenburg, Glauchau, Zwickau, and Greiz. After a fast train line opened between Erfurt and Leipzig in 2015, Weimar was no longer on the main long-distance train routes. But regional trains now connect Weimar to major stations like Erfurt, Halle, and Leipzig.

There is a place for cargo trains near Vieselbach, west of Weimar.

By road

Weimar is on Bundesautobahn 4, which goes from Frankfurt to Dresden. There are also federal roads to Erfurt, Jena, Rudolstadt, and Kölleda, plus regional roads to Sömmerda, Oßmannstedt, and Magdala. A bypass road was built around the north and west of Weimar in the 2000s, but plans for extending it to the east and south are still being discussed.

By aviation

The Erfurt-Weimar Airport is about 30 km west of Weimar. It was expanded in the 1990s but doesn’t have many flights, mostly to holiday places in the Mediterranean. Most air travel is done through Frankfurt Airport or Berlin Brandenburg Airport, each about three hours away.

By bike

Cycling has become more popular since the 1990s when good bike paths were built. Tourist routes include the Ilm track and the Thuringian city string track, which connect places of interest. There are also special routes named after Goethe and Feininger. Some main streets have bike lanes, and bike rentals are available in the city centre.

Bus service

Weimar has good bus services that reach nearby towns and villages. An hourly bus goes to the Buchenwald Memorial, and special old-time buses ride in the historic centre. All buses meet at Goethe Square, and many stop at the main train station. Trams ran in Weimar from 1899 to 1937, and trolleybuses operated from 1948 to 1993.

Education

After Germany reunited, the schools were reorganised. Some schools merged to form Bauhaus University in 1996, with about 4,200 students studying architecture, design, and media. The Liszt School of Music, founded in 1872, has around 850 students learning music. There are also three regular high schools, a special music boarding school called Musikgymnasium Schloss Belvedere, and the Thuringia International School with lessons in foreign languages.

Weimar has important archives, such as the Goethe and Schiller Archive, which focuses on German literature, and the Thuringia Main State Archive with documents from the past 500 years. The Duchess Anna Amalia Library holds books and documents about German literature and culture.

Politics

Mayor and city council

The last mayoral election was on 26 May 2024. The city council election was on the same day.

Lord Mayor

Weimar has had a lord mayor since 1838. Here is a list of mayors and lord mayors from 1793 to today:

• 1793–1797: Johann Heinrich Siegmund Rentsch
• 1798–1811: Carl Adolph Schultze
• 1811–1813: Daniel Wilhelm Brunnquell
• 1813: Carl Christian August Paulssen
• 1814–1820: Bernhard Friedrich Rudolph Kuhn
• 1820–1838: Carl Leberecht Schwabe
• 1838–1850: Carl Georg Hase
• 1851–1866: Wilhelm Christian Friedrich Bock
• 1867–1873: Otto Schäffer
• 1873–1875: Leo Fürbringer
• 1875–1910: Karl Pabst
• 1910–1920: Martin Donndorf
• 1920–1937: Walther Felix Mueller
• 1937–1945: Otto Koch
• 15–30 April 1945: Erich Kloss
• 1 April–5 November 1945: Fritz Behr
• 1945–1946: Otto Faust
• 1946–1948: Gerhard Hempel
• 1948–1953: Hermann Buchterkirchen
• 1953–1959: Hans Wiedemann
• 1960–1969: Luitpold Steidle
• 1969–1970: Paul Ullmann
• 1970–1982: Franz Kirchner
• 1982–1989: Gerhard Baumgärtel
• 1989–1990: Volkhardt Germer (acting)
• 6–2 June July 1990: Wolfgang Hentzschel
• 27 July 1990 – 1994: Klaus Büttner
• 1994–2006: Volkhardt Germer
• 2006–2018: Stefan Wolf
• since 1 July 2018: Peter Kleine

Twin towns – sister cities

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Germany

Weimar is twinned with:

• !France Blois, France
• !Finland Hämeenlinna, Finland
• !Italy Siena, Italy
• !Germany Trier, Germany
• !Poland Zamość, Poland

Friendly cities

Weimar also has friendly relations with:

• !Germany Fulda, Germany
• !Israel Jerusalem, Israel
• !Japan Kamakura, Japan
• !Iran Shiraz, Iran

Notable people

Weimar has been home to many famous people throughout history. Some well-known names include Johann Sebastian Bach, a great composer, and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, a famous writer. Others like Lucas Cranach the Elder, an artist, and Martin Luther, a key figure in religious history, also lived there. The city still honors and celebrates these important people.