Weimar brings together a large landscape garden, sites connected with literary history, and collections on the history of the Bauhaus. When choosing what to focus on, it helps to decide what interests you most: would you like to learn more about Goethe and Schiller, explore the Bauhaus, or spend time in Park an der Ilm? The different themes give your stay distinct accents.
Park an der Ilm: Landscape and relaxation
The 48-hectare Park an der Ilm lies on the edge of Weimar’s Old Town and is a unique landscape garden. To this day, it serves as a place for relaxation, education and the aesthetic enjoyment of nature. This adds a distinct landscape focus alongside the literary and museum themes: you can include the park in your Weimar itinerary without limiting your stay to buildings and collections.
Goethe’s Garden House and Schiller’s Residence
Goethe’s Garden House, in Park an der Ilm, was his first home of his own in Weimar, in 1776. Goethe wrote the ballad “The Erlking” and the poem “To the Moon” in the garden house. Today, visitors can see original furnishings, works of art, manuscripts and a selection of drawings from Goethe’s estate. This brings residential and literary history together in one place, rather than presenting it only through names and dates.
The garden has its own historical feature, too: it is home to the Stone of Good Fortune, erected in 1777 and designed by Goethe together with his drawing teacher, Adam Friedrich Oeser. It is considered one of Germany’s first non-figurative monuments. Those interested in Goethe will find both texts and objects in the garden house and a work in the garden connected with Goethe and Oeser.
Friedrich Schiller spent the last three years of his life and work in his residence on the Esplanade. Schiller’s Residence displays his original desk and bed. Visitors can also write with a quill and ink, create their own silhouette and try out colour experiments. These activities add a hands-on dimension to the story of Schiller’s home and working life.
Weimar Classicism and the Bauhaus
The buildings and parks of Classical Weimar bear witness to the cultural flourishing of Weimar Classicism. This also includes the enlightened patronage of the dukes, which drew important German writers and thinkers such as Goethe, Schiller and Herder to Weimar in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. This historical context provides a broader cultural setting for the individual literary sites.
The Bauhaus Museum Weimar offers a different perspective. It presents one of the country’s most important Bauhaus collections and the world’s oldest Bauhaus collection. The Klassik Stiftung Weimar collection now comprises 13,000 objects and documents. Outstanding exhibits include the Wagenfeld lamp, Marcel Breuer’s slatted chair and Marianne Brandt’s teapot. A terrace leads from Weimarhallenpark into the museum, inviting visitors to linger even before they go inside.
If you would like to explore Weimar on a guided city tour, the Grand City Tour is a public walking tour along the main sights. It complements the themed choice of houses, parks and collections with a general introduction to the city.
The Weimarer Land as a distinct regional perspective
The wider destination of Weimarer Land also offers further ways to combine culture and landscape. The Thuringian Three Towers Trail is a circular hiking trail through the protected landscape of the Middle Ilm Valley in southern Weimarer Land. It connects Paulinenturm near Bad Berka, Hainturm in the Belvederer Forst near Weimar, and Carolinenturm near Blankenhain. The Goethe Adventure Trail follows Goethe’s route to Charlotte von Stein and features twelve experience stations between nature and culture; it also connects Weimar and Großkochberg. The different focuses distinguish these trails as regional offerings: one is a circular route with three towers, the other a route with twelve experience stations.
Choosing hotels in Weimar
If literary history is your main interest, you can focus on the Garden House and Schiller’s Residence; if you are interested in design, head to the Bauhaus Museum. Park an der Ilm offers another focus. So first consider which of these themes you want to shape your stay, then look for hotels in Weimar.
Discover more destinations: Bad Berka, Mellingen, Lehnstedt, Berlstedt, Kleinobringen, Schwerstedt, Hohenfelden, Kapellendorf.
For the wider travel overview: Weimarer Land.
