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Destination: Germany
Belvedere Palace, Weimar
W E I M A R
A Classic Amongst World
Heritage Sites
A decade after its reign as "European
Capital of Cultural" in 1999,
Weimar, a town of classics is still a highly credible
icon for that prestigious title. It
may have been the smallest city ever to be awarded this
distinction, but this tranquil town on the river Ilm
enjoys a long heritage of contributions to the history
and cultural developments in Europe over the centuries.
Evidence of this influence on the history
of European culture and politics of the past centuries
abounds in Weimar. Visitors who visit the town are
captivated by its pristine personality as they stroll
upon streets that echo the footsteps of some of the
greatest figures in European history. A
beautifully renovated town centre, as well as modern
tourism infrastructure amply fulfills your expectations.
The oeuvre of Weimar has many themes:
cultural highlights such as the Arts Festival, which is
organized around Goethe’s birthday in autumn's eve, provide
the town with a festival atmosphere. Dance
theatre, drama, concerts and readings are for the people
of Weimar as much as the visitor. The historic
Onion Market on the second weekend in October is devoted
to more rustic entertainment – in the year 2009 it will
take place for the 356th time.
If
just one symbol was chosen to stand for Weimar, it
would no doubt be Ernst Rietschel’s statue of Goethe
and Schiller, which has stood on Theaterplatz since
1857. Interestingly, their eyes are at almost the same
height – yet do not meet. Copies of the statue can be
seen in Cleveland, Milwaukee and San Francisco as well
as Shanghai. The inscription reads: “The two
poets Goethe and Schiller the Fatherland”
The Classical Weimar Ensemble
. . .
The World Heritage
Committee designated the ensemble of buildings from
the "Classical Weimar" period as being a UNESCO
World Heritage Site at its 24th session in Kyoto,
Japan in 1998. The Weimar Classic Age coincided with
the peak of German national literature (c. 1800).
The Weimar Classic period ran from 1775-1832, which
was when Goethe lived and worked in this small town.
Apart from Johann Wolfgang Goethe also Friedrich
Schiller, Christoph Martin Wieland and Johann
Gottfried Herder contributed to the Weimar Classic
period. It could only developed in an intellectual
cultural atmosphere created by Duchess Anna Amalia and
further encouraged by Duke Carl August. Important
European ideas of literary criticism, art theory,
aesthetics and teaching evolved in Weimar in that
time.
The World Heritage Site of Classical Weimar
Includes . .
.
Goethe National Museum
Goethe's Home at the Frauenplan,
 The permanent exhibition "Repeated
Reflection. Weimar Classics 1759-1832" in the Museum
Complex on the Frauenplan, casts light on Classic
Weimar and its unique phenomena.
Schiller House
Schiller's Home,
Friedrich Schiller spent the last three years of his
life in this townhouse on the former Weimar Esplanade.
Still containing part of the original furnishings, it
reflects the style prevalent in Schiller’s day.
The Widow Palace
After a fire in the town palace, the Palace was turned
into the dowager residence of Duchess Anna Amalia. The
two-winged building is an important document of noble
interior design in Weimar. Luminaries of
Classical Weimar used to meet up in the ‘Round Table
Room’ to talk and exchange opinions, while the ‘Friday
Society’ set up by Goethe also met for a while at
Wittumspalais. Following the death of the Duchess, the
building was no longer permanently inhabited, and was
instead used as a guest-house and meeting place by the
Amalia Masonic Lodge.
The Town Church St. Peter and Paul
Town Castle
or
The Residential Palace
The sumptuous rooms 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. This
important building was once the seat of government and residence of dukes and grand dukes.
Duchess Anna Amalia Library
the Duchess Anna Amalia 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. The library
suffered a devastating fire in September 2004 and reopened in October 2007
in time to mark the
200th anniversary of Anna Amalia’s death.
Park on the Ilm
& Roman
House
With Goethe having been so closely involved in the layout of this landscape park, it’s no wonder that it features both classical and post-classical traits. One of its main attributes is the many lines of sight, while its most distinctive architectural feature is Roman House. Nowadays the park is a popular destination for visitors and locals alike.
Roman House
is the first
classicist
building in
Weimar and
Goethe
oversaw the
construction
work for
this
temple-like
edifice
built in the
Doric style. In the park
by the River Ilm
Goethe's Summer House
Bought for Goethe by the Duke, the poet lived here
until moving to the house on Frauenplan. A place of
refuge for Goethe, after his death it became a shrine for his admirers.
Tiefurt Palace
The building, built in 1765 as a tenant house on ducal property on the bank of the river Ilm, served as Duke Carl August's younger brother's residence from 1776 on.
Until 1806, it was the summer residence of Duchess Anna Amalia and a place for literary and social encounters.
Tiefurt Palace and Park
Weimar Celebrates the 90th Anniversary of Bauhaus . . .
"BAUHAUS" is the common term for the Staatliches Bauhaus, an art and architecture school in Germany that
operated from 1919 to 1933, and for its approach to design that it
publicized and taught. Bauhaus style became one of the most influential
currents in Modernist architecture, and one of the most important currents
of the New Objectivity. The Bauhaus Art School had a profound influence
upon subsequent developments in art, architecture, graphic design,
interior design, industrial design and typography.
The Bauhaus Art School
existed in three German cities (Weimar from 1919 to 1925, Dessau from 1925
to 1932, Berlin from 1932 to 1933), under three different
architect-directors. Today – the Bauhaus sites in Weimar and Dessau are
part of the UNESCO World Heritage. This design revolution that began 90 years ago was founded by Walter
Gropius in 1919.
In 2009 all eyes will be on Weimar, the Weimarer
Land region, Jena and Erfurt as the focal points during the Bauhaus
jubilee. In Thuringia the birth of the Avant-Garde school whose global
influence continues to this day will be remembered with impressive
exhibitions and outstanding events.
Weimar
had long been an intellectual and cultural centre in Germany, the source
of new ideas in literature, music and the theatre since the age of
classicism. Henry van de Velde, the architect and a guiding intellectual
force in art nouveau, had created the perfect environment in which the
Bauhaus could flourish with his Grand Ducal School of Arts and Crafts.
His
buildings like the Villa Duerkheim or the former school of Arts and Crafts
can still be seen in Weimar. Based in Weimar until 1925, the Bauhaus was
the most modern art school of its day. It was to revolutionize
architecture and design all over the world through teamwork, workshop
principles and openness to the latest international influences.
Gropius
assembled virtually the whole of the European Avant-garde in Weimar: Lyonel
Feininger, Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Gerhard Marcks, Johannes Itten,
Oskar Schlemmer and László Moholy-Nagy were appointed to teach at the new
school of design. The most famous example of Bauhaus architecture in
Weimar is Am Horn House, which was built as a model house for the first
architecture exhibition of 1923.
90 years of the Bauhaus is a perfect
opportunity to present – for the first time on such a large scale – the
background, the historical and intellectual roots and the origins of the
Bauhaus philosophy in a comprehensive and highly exclusive series of
exhibitions and events. "The Bauhaus – classic" exhibition Weimar Classics
Foundation – in prominent locations in Weimar including the Bauhaus
Museum, the New Museum Weimar, the Goethe National Museum, the Schiller
Museum, Am Horn House and Bauhaus University Weimar March 28th to July
5th, 2009.
Bauhaus Museum
The
world-famous Bauhaus School of Architecture and
Applied Arts was originally founded in Weimar. The
museum contains about 500 exhibits made by teachers
and students of this avant-garde college.
Other Historical Points of
Interest in Weimar . . .
German National Theatre
The successor of the Weimar Court Theatre, whose
director was once Goethe. The neoclassical structure
was completed in 1908. Over the decades, it has been
rebuilt a number of times and also hosted several
important political events, the best-known of which is
the foundation of the Weimar Republic. Nowadays the
German National Theatre is home to the most important
theatrical company in Thuringia as well as the
Staatskapelle Weimar Orchestra.
Hohe Pappeln House
Henry van de Velde, a Belgian
architect and designer who was art adviser to the
Grand Duchy, devised and built this country house for
his family once it had grown to seven people.
Weimar Town 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 organized by
the museum’s Association of
Friends and Patrons.
New Weimar Museum
This prestigious neo-Renaissance
building was formerly the Grand
Ducal Museum but is now the home
of the Museum of Contemporary
Art. The celebrated artists
Daniel Buren and Sol Le Witt
were involved in its elaborate
refurbishment.
Theaterplatz
After a fire in the town palace,
Wittumspalais was turned into
the dowager residence of Duchess
Anna Amalia. The two-winged
building is an important
document of noble interior
design in Weimar.
Kirms-Krackow
House
How did
people live
in Goethe’s
day and
subsequently?
An answer is
provided by
the
furniture
and many
personal
keepsakes in
this house
once
belonging to
two court
officials
Franz and
Karl Kirms
and later
owned by
Charlotte
Krackow.
Weimar
Park Cave
Towards the
end of the
eighteenth
century,
Duke Carl
August
ordered a
system of
tunnels to
be dug in
the park 12
metres (39
feet)
underground
for the
storage of
beer. During
World War
II, the
tunnels were
expanded and
used as an
air raid
shelter.
Nowadays the
underground
museum
contains an
exhibition
on its
origins as
well as the
history of
geology. In the park
by the River
Ilm
Palaces in and around Weimar
The highlights of Weimar's enormously rich historical landscape – the splendid palace in the town centre
- a former royal residence with an outstanding collection of paintings
- and no fewer than three summer residences: the sumptuous Belvedere Palace and the more restrained Tiefurt Palace and Ettersburg Palace – all offer visitors a very real sense of a bygone era.
Belvedere Palace
Laid out in Duke Ernst August’s day in strict French style, in the late eighteenth century the gardens were transformed along the lines of the English landscape approach and many of the original buildings were demolished. Those which have been preserved are the cavaliers’ houses, the orangery along with the gardener’s house, and the inn. The palace contains an exquisite collection of arts and crafts, including precious porcelain, faďence, glasses and select furniture.
Belvedere Palace Park and Orangery
The first sections were laid out by Prince Constantine, the youngest son of Anna Amalia. When Anna Amalia relocated her summer residence to Tiefurt, she gradually continued working on the park. It was later rearranged and restored.
Ettersburg Palace
The Ettersburg Palace complex consists of the old palace itself, the adjacent church, and the new palace in front, and was originally used as Anna Amalia’s summer residence. During this time, a literary and artistic circle met here, to which Wieland, Goethe or Herder belonged, among others.
Weimar's parks, gardens and romantic palaces
. . .
Weimar. Weimar's idyllic parks and gardens have a wonderful
reputation – rightly so, for it is quite extraordinary for products of
nature and man to be so
essential to the character of an entire town. As Adolf Stahr once
wrote, "Weimar is actually a park with a town beside it". Weimar's parks
and gardens – designed and planted during the age of classicism, some by
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the great German poet – can still be enjoyed
in all their glory.
The most famous is the Park on the Ilm with
the delightful little summer house once owned by Goethe. Belvedere Palace
Park, with its orangery and a wealth of botanical rarities, has a
romantic, Mediterranean atmosphere and a hint of exoticism. Both of these
parks and the smaller Tiefurt Palace Park are UNESCO world heritage sites.
No less magnificent is Ettersburg Palace Park, which lies to the north of
the town and features the Pückler forest meadow – a gem of Thuringian
landscape gardening.
The highlights of Weimar's enormously rich
historical landscape – the splendid palace in the town centre (a former
royal residence with an outstanding collection of paintings) and no fewer
than three summer residences: the sumptuous Belvedere Palace and the more
restrained Tiefurt Palace and Ettersburg Palace – all offer visitors a
very real sense of a bygone era. Weimar's parks and summer residences owe
part of their fame to Duchess Anna Amalia's artistic salons, at which she
gathered poets, philosophers, composers and actors. These are the places
where the spirit of classicism is most palpable today.
A "must see" for garden lovers is the garden
at Goethe's townhouse where the planting is largely as it was in Goethe's
day. Another recommendation is the garden in the Park am Stern, which
Goethe had laid out next to his summer house. There is a small Biedermeier-style
garden next to the Kirms-Krackow House in the heart of the old quarter –
along with the museum, this tranquil spot offers a vivid impression of
middle-class life during the age of classicism.
Editor's note: We are
grateful to Weimar Tourismus
for their assistance,
especially their generosity
in sharing information and
graphics. We relied
largely on their input for
accurate information to
present to our readers on
this truly wonderful German
city.
You may follow this link for
further information on
Weimar - A classic amongst
World Heritage Cities . . .
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