Weimar

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See also Weimar Republic; there are also Weimar bei Kassel and Weimar in Marburg-Biedenkopf, and Weimar, Texas.

Template:Infobox Town DE Weimar is a city in Germany. It is located in the Bundesland of Thuringia (German: Thüringen), north of the Thüringer Wald, east of Erfurt, and southwest of Halle and Leipzig. Its current population is approximately 62,000. The oldest record of the city dates from the year 899. Weimar was the capital of the duchy (after 1815 the grand duchy) of Saxe-Weimar (German Sachsen-Weimar).

1 History
2 Famous residents of Weimar
3 Districts:
4 Sister Cities:
5 Transportation:
6 Sporting clubs
7 External links
8 Education

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History

Weimar is one of the great cultural sites of Europe, being home to such luminaries as , Goethe, Schiller, and Herder. It has been a site of pilgrimage for the German intelligentsia since Goethe first moved to Weimar in the late 18th century. The tombs of Goethe, Schiller, and Nietzsche may be found in the city, as may the archives of Goethe and Schiller.

The period in German history from 1919-1933 is commonly referred to as the Weimar Republic, as the Republic's constitution was drafted here because the capital, Berlin, with its street rioting after the 1918 German Revolution, was considered too dangerous for the National Assembly to convene. Weimar was the center of the Bauhaus movement. The city houses art galleries, museums and the German national theatre. The Bauhaus University and the Liszt School of Music Weimar attracted many students, specializing in media and design, architecture, civil engineering and music, to Weimar. During World War II, there was a concentration camp near Weimar, at Buchenwald, a little wood that Goethe had loved to frequent only 8 kilometers from the city center. More than 55,000 prisoners entered the gates bearing the mottos "Jedem das Seine" ("to each his due") and "Recht oder Unrecht – Mein Vaterland" ("right or wrong – my fatherland"). Visitors today can view areas used for shelter, medical experimentation, cremation, and labor. A somber, disturbing experience, yet one that must be endured.

From 1949 to 1990 Weimar belonged to the German Democratic Republic.

UNESCO selected the city as a cultural capital of Europe ("Kulturstadt Europas") for 1999.

On September 3, 2004, a fire broke out at the Duchess Anna Amalia Library. The library contains a 13,000-volume-strong collection of Goethe's masterpiece Faust, in addition to a music collection of the Duchess. An authentic Lutheran Bible from 1534 was saved from the fire. The damage stretched into the millions of dollars. The number of books in this historic library exceeded 1,000,000, of which 40,000 to 50,000 were destroyed. The library belongs to the UNESCO world heritage, and is one of the oldest public libraries in Europe. The fire, with its destruction of much historical literature, amounts to a huge cultural loss for Germany, Europe, and indeed the world. A number of books were shock-frozen in the city of Leipzig to save them from rotting.

A visit to Weimar would not be complete without a tour of Goethe's home or gardenhouse, a stroll through the picturesque and expansive Park an der Ilm, a sampling of Thüringian Bratwurst from the local vendors at the Marktplatz, or a taste of any of the many decadent (and cheap) ice cream flavors that line the main scenic street, Schillerstrasse.

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