Es war ein Glücksfall, dass die aufgeklärten Herrscher des kleinen Herzogtums Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach die Reformbedürftigkeit des Landes erkannten und mit Erfolg versuchten, bürgerliche Persönlichkeiten an ihren Hof zu binden, die kulturell und politisch reformerisch wirksam werden sollten.

So kamen dort universelle Geister zusammen. Herzog Anna Amalia berief 1772 den Dichter Christoph Martin Wieland als Prinzenerzieher. Johann Wolfgang Goethe folgte 1775 der Einladung des jungen Herzog Carl August und wurde bald zu Weimars Zentralgestirn. Johann Gottfried Herder kam ein Jahr später, um die Stellung als oberster Geistlicher anzutreten. Friedrich Schillers Dichterbund mit Goethe und seine Arbeit insbesondere für das Theater führte zu einer Glanzzeit des klassischen Weimar.

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Treasures of Weimar

Weimar offers a unique combination of art and culture and countless opportunities to discover the city's culture. Walk in the footsteps of the famous composers Johann Sebastian Bach, Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner, the influential poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller, or walk around the enchanting old town. No wonder people say Weimar has personality. Its countless famous residents and large number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites give the city a distinctive flair that simply has to be experienced to be believed.   Therefore it is said Weimar has personality due to its numerous famous inhabitants and a large amount of UNESCO world heritage sights that create an extraordinary flair you have to experience yourself.

Palaces and parks, museums and monuments - the list of Weimars sights is splendidly long. Small but great: museums, palaces, parks and gardens- to discover Weimar's past means discover Germany's history. To visit every museum in Weimar – you need a lot of time. In a city of 65.000 inhabitants we have more than 20 museums.

Weimar has as many as two entries in UNESCO’s World Heritage List: Classical Weimar and Bauhaus Sites in Weimar.

The Park on the River Ilm is a place for intellectual activity, relaxation and entertainment - both in the past and the present. Goethe sought the closeness to nature - and found it.

Goethe National Museum Goethe's Home and the Goethe National Museum on Frauenplan provide the most important evidence of the Weimar classics. Goethe spent 50 years of his life here. Shortly after the death of Goethe’s last grandson Walther, Goethe’s historic house and his art and nature collections passed on to the trusteeship of the Goethe National Museum, founded in 1885. Two museum buildings were built in 1913 and 1935 to accommodate the steadily growing collection.  The Goethe National Museum is situated in the same building as Goethe's Home.

The Bauhaus-Museum displays a selection of the collection of works by the Bauhaus that was founded in Weimar in 1919 and caused a worldwide furore in design and architecture. The Bauhaus Museum Weimar with its exhibition of more than 300 objects offers insights into the development of the State Bauhaus in the place in which it was founded, namely in Weimar. The Am Horn House by Georg Muche is the only example of Bauhaus architecture in Weimar and was built in connection with the first major Bauhaus exhibition in 1923.

The City Palace is a magnificent ducal residence and houses the former grand-ducal art collection dating from the Middle Ages until Modernity around 1900.
The sumptuous rooms of the Palace Museum are just as impressive as the collection of first-class European art spanning the period from the Middle Ages and the Reformation to the beginning of the twentieth century. The building was once the seat of government and residence of dukes and grand dukes.

Anna Amalia Bibliothek (Historical Library)
Anna Amalia had the ‘Green Palace’ turned into a library comprising a unique combination of books, an art collection and architecture. The Rococo Hall is especially famous. After the library was hit by a devastating fire in September 2004, it was reopened in December 2007 as the jewel of Weimar's museums. The Rokoko hall at the Herzogin (historical library) that once again gleams in new splendour. There are one million volumes at the new and old library.

Goethe-Schiller Archive
Modelled on the Petit Trianon in the Park of Versailles, Grand Duchess Sophie had the oldest literature archive in Germany built to preserve handwritten manuscripts by Goethe and Schiller. The stocks in the library are made available for research purposes – either in the original or as a copy on film.

Buchenwald memorial is an important venue to recall the crimes committed during the Nazi period. 500,000 visitors come here every year. The infamous Nazi concentration camp known as Buchenwald existed between 1937 and 1945 on Ettersberg.

Municipal Museum
Weimar Town Museum in Bertuch House shows the history of Weimar in the time from 1919. The rooms on the ground floor are occasionally open for the various exhibitions and public lectures organised by the museum’s Association of Friends and Patrons.