Weimar

Introducing Weimar

Neither a monumental town nor a medieval one, Weimar draws visitors whose tastes run to cultural or intellectual pleasures. It is the epicentre of the German Enlightenment, having grown into a symbol for all that is good and great in German culture. Its parks and gardens bring tranquil colour to the city in summer and lend themselves to contemplation, whereas its many museums take the visitor into the epoch of the Enlightenment (and its characters) and beyond.

The pantheon of intellectual and creative giants who lived and worked here amounts to a virtual Germanic hall of fame: Cranach the Elder, Johann Sebastian Bach, Wieland, Schiller, Herder, Goethe, Liszt, Nietzsche, Gropius, Feininger, Kandinsky, Klee…the list goes on (and on, and on).

The town is best known as the place where Germany’s first republican constitution was drafted after WWI, though there are few reminders of this historical moment. The ghostly ruins of the Buchenwald concentration camp, on the other hand, still provide haunting evidence of the terrors of the Nazi regime. The Bauhaus and classical Weimar sites are protected as Unesco World Heritage sites.

While the city can sometimes feel like a giant tourist-filled museum, it is one of Germany’s most fascinating places and belongs on every itinerary.

Last updated: Mar 2, 2009