Weimar is a historical city in the federal state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately 80 kms southwest of Leipzig, 170 kms north of Nuremberg and 170 kms west of Dresden. Weimar culture was the flourishing of the arts (Bauhaus) and sciences that happened in Germany during the Weimar Republic. The old part of a city is designated as UNESCO World Heritage site.

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Central Germany

Crucial to its culture, science, industry and history, Mitteldeutschland is Germany’s beating heart. It is studded with cities whose historical importance matches their modern vitality (Weimar, Erfurt and Kassel are just the first names on this list); ridged by low, forested mountains that loom large in German mythology; and edified by museums, cathedrals and castles without number, so it’s puzzling that such a rich destination is routinely overlooked by international visitors.

Attractions

Must-see attractions for your itinerary

  • Gedenkstätte Buchenwald

    Gedenkstätte Buchenwald

    Weimar

    Between 1937 and 1945, hidden from Weimarers and surrounding villagers, 250,000 men, women and children were incarcerated here, some 56,500 of whom were…

  • The Wartburg near Eisenach, Thuringia, Germany.

    Wartburg

    Thuringian Forest & the Saale Valley

    When it comes to medieval castles and their importance in German history, Eisenach's Unesco-listed Wartburg dominates the landscape. This huge medieval…

  • A vertical shot of the Hercules monument in Wilhelmshoehe Castle Park in Kassel, Germany.

    Herkules

    Fairy-Tale Road

    Erected between 1707 and 1717 by Landgrave Karl and declared a Unesco World Heritage site in 2013, the 8.25m-high copper Herkules statue stands atop a…

  • Inner courtyard of Friedenstein Castle in the old town of Gotha in Thuringia in Germany.

    Schloss Friedenstein

    Erfurt, Weimar & Thuringia

    This horseshoe-shaped palace, surviving in exemplary condition as the largest early baroque palace in Germany, is a lavish, creaky-floored delight. Much…

  • The historical townhall and market place of Marburg, Germany.

    Altstadt

    Fairy-Tale Road

    One of the joys of Marburg is simply strolling around its steeply winding medieval core. Its focal point is the Marktplatz; on the southern side is the…

  • Wörlitz Park, Dessau, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany.

    Wörlitz Park & Schloss Wörlitz

    Central Germany

    With peacocks feeding on the lawn before a neo-Gothic house, a tree-lined stream flowing towards a Grecian-style temple and a gap in a hedge framing a…

  • The Bauhaus master house building designed by architect Walter Gropius in 1925, Dessau, Germany.

    Meisterhäuser

    Central Germany

    You’ll find the four surviving Meisterhäuser – Gropiushaus, Haus Feininger, Haus Muche/Schlemmer and Haus Kandinsky/Klee – on leafy Ebertallee, a 15…

  • Old tree and roots at Edersee lake, at Kellerwald-Edersee National Park, Waldeck-Frankenburg, Hessen, Germany.

    Nationalpark Kellerwald-Edersee

    Fairy-Tale Road

    Hesse's first national park encompasses the Kellerwald, one of the largest extant red-beech forests in Central Europe and a rare survivor of the last Ice…

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Hamburg city of warehouses at night with lights reflecting on the River Elbe

Food

Germany for first-timers

Aug 13, 2019 • 7 min read

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