Around August 28, the date of Goethe’s birthday, Weimar toasts to the health of his great man during a very popular wine festival. Take the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of Goethe in Weimar and discover the important cultural heritage of this small town in Thuringia, which was the capital of the Enlightenment and German humanism. And, what is more, Weimar proves to be very pretty in the mild summer that is ending: a stroll through the pedestrian streets of its historic center will take you back in time.

Weimar, capital of the Enlightenment

It’s hard to imagine today, but the small town of Weimar (65,000 inhabitants), located 280 km southeast of Berlin, has repeatedly found itself at the center of German political and cultural life. This peaceful provincial city was also, in 1999, European capital of Culture: historic monuments abound and its old center, charming, suffered little from the bombings of 1945.

Weimar is inextricably linked to the first (and ephemeral) German republic: it was here that the constitution was signed, which gave birth in 1919 to the “Weimar republic”. Unfortunately, this democratic regime, born on the ruins of Bismarckian Germany, knows a real way of the cross, between the assaults of extremists of all stripes and the economic disaster of the crisis of 1929. In 1933, the Weimar Republic is swept away by the Nazis.

But Weimar did not wait for this aborted attempt at democracy to represent, in German history, humanism and freedom. Already in the 18th century, the city, then capital of the Duchy of Saxe-Weimar, was nothing less than the capital of the Enlightenment. A man did a lot for Weimar: it was Johann Wolfgang von Goethe who moved there at the age of 26, all haloed by the success of Young Werther’s Suffering. Very quickly, Goethe became one of the most influential notables in the city. Advisor to the Duke, he is repeatedly Minister, of Finance, Mines and Education. Goethe, who considers Weimar a little paradise, lives there until the end of his life.

The city of Goethe

Around August 28 (this year, from August 28 to 31, 2008), Weimar celebrates the birthday of his great man, toasting to his health during a wine festival. The celebrations take place on the Frauenplan square, where Goethe’s house is located. He lived there for almost half a century, from 1782 to 1832, and wrote most of his masterpieces there.

After tasting one of the country’s good white wines, cross the square to visit Goethe’s house (Goethes Wohnhaus & nationalmuseum), housed in a long building with a yellow wall and lattice windows, transformed into a museum. Through the rooms, a whole era re-emerges, the “classic Weimar” which lived, from 1750 to 1832, the peak of the city of Thuringia. Under the leadership of the Duchess Anna Amalia, Weimar was then the center of German intellectual life, since, in addition to Goethe, the greatest writers of the time, such as Wieland, Herder and Schiller, had taken up residence there. All of the buildings, museums and archives from the “classic Weimar” era is now part of UNESCO’s cultural heritage.

Inside Goethe’s house you can find watercolors, personal items and letters from the author of Faust, but also examples of his work as a naturalist, his large collection of minerals, his library, memories of his trips to Italy as well as a large collection of antique sculptures and ceramic tableware. Be sure to take a walk in the garden and stop in Goethe’s mortuary, where he uttered his last famous words: “Mehr Licht” (light).

In the footsteps of the writer

The benevolent shadow of Goethe is found everywhere in Weimar. Take a stroll in the bucolic Park an der Illm. In this English garden arranged on the advice of the poet is also his small pavilion. He lived there after his arrival in Weimar in 1774. Later, he liked to withdraw there to write. Today you can also visit the maisonette, but also take advantage of the pleasant setting of “Goethe Park” to sunbathe and visit the Roman house, former summer residence of Duke Charles-Auguste, where Goethe liked to have tea with his friend. Also, in the park you will find Parkhöhle, a set of underground galleries twelve meters deep, fitted out by the Duke on the advice of Goethe to install a beer cellar there. Goethe, a former minister of mines, collected minerals there.

The city center castle (Residenz Schloss), where paintings by Italian masters, Friedrich and the Impressionists are on display, is also marked by Goethe. The writer participated in its construction from 1789 and went there regularly later as Minister of Duke Charles-Auguste. Another memory of the author’s passage from Elective Affinities: the Hoftheater, now Deutsches Nationaltheater. Many pieces by Friedrich Schiller were performed there for the first time under the aegis of Goethe. Today, Goethe’s works are regularly performed at the theater posters. Opposite the building, the bronze statues of Schiller and Goethe dominate the square.

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