The UNESCO World Heritage Committee added the “Classical Weimar” ensemble to the World Heritage List in 1998. Most of the sites are owned and managed by the Klassik Stiftung Weimar cultural foundation. The ensemble includes buildings in Weimar’s historic downtown, as well as spacious parks and structures, all of which embody the cultural epoch of Weimar Classicism in exemplary fashion.
Banqueting Hall at Belvedere Palace (1998) by Classical WeimarUNESCO World Heritage
In granting World Heritage status to the ensemble, UNESCO recognised the great art-historical significance of these buildings and parks, both public and private, dating back to the golden age of of “Classical Weimar” and its “outstanding role as an intellectual centre of the late 18th and early 19th century”.
Weimar Classicism was shaped by a cosmopolitan worldview, an enlightened spirit and an, oftentimes, highly disparate courtly and civic culture. Famous figures like Goethe, Herder and Schiller, and the ducal dynasty of Saxony-Weimar and Eisenach left their indelible mark on this period of cultural history.
Exterior view of Goethe National Museum and Goethe Residence (1998) by Classical WeimarUNESCO World Heritage
Goethe Residence
The Goethe National Museum is the most renowned of the museums of the ensemble, and is devoted to the presentation and study of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s life and works. It contains an extraordinary treasure – the poet’s residence, replete with original furnishings and collection pieces, which also belongs to the UNESCO World Heritage site.
This is where Goethe lived and worked for 50 years, after moving in as a tenant in 1782.
Juno Room with Juno Head in Goethe's Residence (1998) by Classical WeimarUNESCO World Heritage
The residence was far more than a home and a workplace for this famous poet and his family. In rooms that Goethe designed himself to reflect the classical ideals of his time and his diverse interests, the residence became a place of social, cultural and intellectual dialogue.
Goethe's study in Weimar (1998) by Classical WeimarUNESCO World Heritage
In addition to his many writings and books, Goethe used the residence to store his ever-growing collections of artwork and scientific specimens. Today, numerous personal items and pieces of furniture from his estate are on display in 18 publicly accessible rooms.
The centrepiece is the poet’s study, with authentic furnishings and his private library.
Exterior view of Schiller Residence (1998) by Classical WeimarUNESCO World Heritage
Schiller Residence
The residence of Friedrich Schiller is also part of the site. It was here in this house that the poet both lived and worked for the last three years of his life. The rooms contain original furniture from the Schiller estate along with other analogous furnishings dating back to the Classical period.
Visitors can also view the former servant and utility rooms on the ground floor, the chambers of his wife, Charlotte, and their children, and the poet’s living quarters.
Schiller's study in Weimar (1998) by Classical WeimarUNESCO World Heritage
The highlight is Schiller’s study with its mostly original furnishings. This is where he completed the famous dramas “The Bride of Messina” and “William Tell”, before passing away in 1805. Today, the room is still furnished with Schiller’s original desk and bed.
An insight into the Schiller Residence
Exterior view Wittumspalais in Weimar (1998) by Classical WeimarUNESCO World Heritage
Residence of Duchess Anna Amalia
The Baroque dowager residence (Wittumspalais), in downtown Weimar, was home to Duchess Anna Amalia of Saxony-Weimar and Eisenach for many years until her death in 1807. This was where she staged many of her legendary social events.
The interior furnishings of her former living quarters and parlours highlight Anna Amalia’s numerous hobbies and evoke an impression of contemporary culture around 1800.
Round Table Room in the Wittumspalais (1998) by Classical WeimarUNESCO World Heritage
After her regency ended in 1775, Anna Amalia devoted herself to music, theatre and drawing. The parlour, with its corresponding furnishings, is one of the most authentic rooms in the residence and reflects the living culture of the Classical era.
Historic building of the Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek (1998) by Classical WeimarUNESCO World Heritage
The Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek
Located at the edge of Weimar’s downtown is a publicly accessible archive and research library which houses a large collection of materials relating to European literary and cultural history, with a particular focus on the era between 1750 and 1850.
In keeping with the tradition of a ducal library, its holdings contain collections dating back to the 9th century which are continuously expanded, catalogued and made accessible with current research literature.
Rococo Hall of the Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek (1998) by Classical WeimarUNESCO World Heritage
The Rococo Hall is the centrepiece of the Historic Library. Built at the behest of Duchess Anna Amalia, it opened in 1766 and has, since then, housed and presented some of the library’s most extraordinary collections.
Montage of two shots - before the fire - after the fire mounted by Hannes Bertram (1998) by Classical WeimarUNESCO World Heritage
On 2nd September 2004, a devastating fire swept through the library, destroying significant parts of its collection. Some 28,000 volumes were rescued, while 118,000 suffered damage and another 50,000 were completely lost to the flames. You can experience a 360° virtual tour of the Rococo Hall as it appeared before and after the fire.
In the years after the inferno, the Historic Library was entirely restored and finally reopened in 2007.
Aerial view of Weimar City Castle (1998) by Classical WeimarUNESCO World Heritage
The Weimar City Castle
The former residence of the grand ducal family of Saxony-Weimar and Eisenach possesses a rich history. For centuries, the castle represented the cultural heart of the city. It was here that the artistically-minded Ernestine dynasty lived and ruled for almost 400 years in the company of famous poets, philosophers, artists and composers.
Herder Church outside (1998) by Classical WeimarUNESCO World Heritage
City Church of St. Peter and Paul (Herder Church)
Built between 1498 and 1500, and then redesigned in the Baroque style in the 18th century, this church was Johann Gottfried von Herder’s place of activity for 27 years.
The residence church contains the Cranach Altar, the font in which J.S. Bach’s children were baptised, the pulpit from which Luther preached, and Herder’s grave.
Exterior view Herder House (1998) by Classical WeimarUNESCO World Heritage
Herder House
Built between 1725 and 1727, the three-storey Baroque manor served as Johann Gottfried von Herder’s home and office from 1776 to 1803. The closely interwoven and fully preserved arrangement of the house, courtyard and garden is a rare example of affluent middle-class living culture of the 18th/19th century.
Aerial view of the Ducal Vault in the Historic Cemetery (1998) by Classical WeimarUNESCO World Heritage
Ducal Vault
Built between 1823 and 1828, the Ducal Vault in the Historic Cemetery in Weimar is a mausoleum like no other. As well as serving as the final resting place for the members of the House of Saxony-Weimar and Eisenach, it also contains the caskets of two of the most celebrated poets of Weimar Classicism: Goethe and Schiller.
A total of 43 caskets were kept in the vault, until 1994 when ten had to be removed for conservational reasons.
Coffins of the poets Goethe and Schiller (1998) by Classical WeimarUNESCO World Heritage
In 2008, researchers determined that the supposed remains of Friedrich Schiller actually originated from several individuals. Although Schiller’s casket is now empty, its place in the vault, alongside Goethe’s, symbolises the ducal family’s deep respect for the two poets.
View of the park on the Ilm with Goethe Gartenhaus (1998) by Classical WeimarUNESCO World Heritage
Park on the Ilm
The 48-hectare Park on the Ilm is a unique landscape park, situated at the edge of Weimar’s historic downtown. It was here that Duke Carl August and Johann Wolfgang Goethe made their gardening ideas a reality.
They created a walkable work of art with diverse views of the landscape, park structures and places to sit down. Today, the park continues to offer visitors a place to relax, learn and enjoy nature’s beauty.
Roman House at the Park on the Ilm (1998) by Classical WeimarUNESCO World Heritage
Duke Carl August’s summer retreat
The Roman House, completed in 1797, was the favourite residence and retreat of Duke Carl August of Saxony-Weimar and Eisenach. Modelled on an ancient Roman villa, the Classical period country manor was constructed under Goethe’s supervision from 1792 to 1797 and provided a magnificent view of the Ilm River valley.
Exterior view of Goethe Gartenhaus (1998) by Classical WeimarUNESCO World Heritage
Goethe Gartenhaus
The former vineyard cottage, at the edge of the Park on the Ilm, was Goethe’s first place of residence in Weimar in 1776. This is where he wrote the ballad of the “Erlkönig” and the poem “To the Moon”.
The cottage, furnished with original pieces of furniture such as the high desk and sitting trestle, was an important retreat for Goethe in his later years. The displayed artworks and manuscripts belonged to Goethe’s estate and refer to a time when he called the cottage his home.
Stone of Good Luck with Garden at the Goethe Gartenhaus (1998) by Classical WeimarUNESCO World Heritage
The Goethe Gartenhaus is surrounded by a garden that Goethe himself created. The terrain is still divided into three parts, as it was in Goethe’s day: the cultivated slope behind the house, the grassy meadow of fruit trees and Goethe’s vegetable patches on the lower level.
In 1777, Goethe installed an unusual monument in his garden: the “Stone of Good Luck”. Designed by the poet and his drawing teacher, Adam Friedrich Oeser, it is believed to be one of Germany’s first, non-figurative sculptures.
Insight into Goethe Gartenhaus
Belvedere Castle (1998) by Classical WeimarUNESCO World Heritage
Belvedere Castle
Belvedere Castle is situated on a hill just south of Weimar and is surrounded by a spacious park with an orangery, gardens and a labyrinth. The Baroque castle served as the summer residence of the ducal family of Saxony-Weimar and Eisenach.
Originally used as a hunting lodge with a menagerie, Belvedere Castle was later refurbished as a “pleasure palace” – a maison de plaisance – with pavilions, a clock house, cavalier houses and a landscape park. In 1923, it was converted into a museum of 18th-century arts and crafts. Exquisite porcelain works that were formerly owned by the Weimar ducal dynasty are still exhibited there today.
Belvedere Castle Park with Orangery (1998) by Classical WeimarUNESCO World Heritage
Belvedere Castle Park and Orangery
Belvedere Castle was once surrounded by a Baroque garden which resembled those of the large courts of the day in Versailles and Vienna. The Baroque rigidity of the park gradually yielded to a post-classical, romantic character, with numerous ornamental niches and park structures such as fountains, sculptures, the rose arch trellis and an artificial ruin, the Great Grotto.
The Russian Garden to the west of the castle is quite unique. It was created at the behest of Carl Friedrich for his wife, Maria Pavlovna, as an exact replica of the garden she had left behind in St. Petersburg.
The castle’s founder, Ernst August, spared no expense on exotic plants, for which he had an orangery built on the park grounds. Aside from its horticultural purposes, the Orangery represented the influence and wealth of a Baroque court.
Castle and Castle Park Belvedere
Tiefurt Mansion exterior view (1998) by Classical WeimarUNESCO World Heritage
Duchess Anna Amalia’s country estate
Tiefurt Mansion was once the “place of the Muses” for Weimar’s court society. In 1781, Duchess Anna Amalia of Saxony-Weimar and Eisenach made the country estate her summer residence. Far from the constraints of ceremonial life, she filled her time with art and music, and received numerous guests, including Goethe, Herder, Wieland and Schiller.
Tiefurt Mansion Park with wiew of the Temple of the Muses (1998) by Classical WeimarUNESCO World Heritage
The spacious park, which, together with the mansion, is part of the Classical Weimar World Heritage site, is an important example of an early sentimental landscape garden with picturesque niches, sculptures and memorial stones.
Ettersburg Castle Park with Castle slope and view of the Castle (1998) by Classical WeimarUNESCO World Heritage
Ettersburg Castle and Park
After Ettersburg Castle and its park grounds were built in the early 18th century, the estate was used by the ducal family of Saxony-Weimar and Eisenach as a hunting manor and was their favoured summer residence.
Anna Amalia regularly invited her poet and artist friends to join her there. The spacious landscape park, with its cultivated grounds and “Pückler-Schlag”, is a jewel of garden landscaping.
Ettersburg Castle Park West Wing of the Old Ettersburg Castle (1998) by Classical WeimarUNESCO World Heritage
Duke Wilhelm Ernst of Saxony-Weimar began building the hunting manor in the early 18th century. The estate was owned by the ducal family until their abdication in 1918. It was here that they received such illustrious guests as Franz Liszt and Hans Christian Andersen.
This exhibit was created by the Klassik Stiftung Weimar: www.klassik-stiftung.de/en/
Explore the sites of Classical Weimar with the Weimar+ app: www.klassik-stiftung.de/en/digital/app/
More on the Classical Weimar and World Heritage: whc.unesco.org/en/list/846
