This inscription on one of Weimar's houses (there are more, so watch out!) perfectly welcomes the traveler setting out to explore the Kulturstadt Europas of the year 1999. So let's begin our discovery of this amazing place that reflects or better embodies every aspect of Germany history and culture you could think of.

After a nice breakfast on Saturday, we take the bus till Goetheplatz, close to the center and directly across from the 'Kasseturm,' the one of the locations central in student life at Weimar. (There is the Studentenclub Schützengasse, Kabarett Sinn Flut, the Kino im mon ami offering Weimar's students a variety of ways to spend their evenings.) They have life bands, jazz-festivals and the like: check the Weimar calendar for what's going on!

We enter the pedestrian area and keep walking till we reach the Theaterplatz, dominated by the Goethe-and-Schiller monument. Those two made the city most famous and influence German literature and culture to this very day. 

While the original building saw the stagings of Schiller's plays under Goethe's direction, the 'Nationaltheater' you see today was rebuilt in 1908. It was here where the 'Weimarer Verfassung' was drafted.

Today, the theater is known for its modern and experimental production of classic and modern plays, while the orchestra is likewise acknowledged for its outstanding performances. Therefore you should check Weimar's calendar of events when you plan your trip to make sure to catch the performance you'd like to see.

If you turn around, you face the world-famous Bauhausmuseum exhibiting all sorts of objects in Bauhaus-Design.

If you turn right, you see the so-called 'Wittumspalais,' the palais of the person who made sure the state's money went into the arts: Herzogin Anna Amalie, who lost her husband and took office when she was only nineteen years old. Make sure you take a look at the rooms inside to see how state leaders lived at her time. In the afternoons, there are performances called "Musikalisch-literarischer Goetheabende," which are simply fun! When we listened to a reading of Klaus Tudyka's "Der Dritte im Bunde," we laughed our heads off--so make sure to check whether they have an event going on while you are there!

For now we walk on with the Wittumspalais on our left. Soon we enter the 'Schillerstrasse,' a pedestrian area built after the 'Wende.' Aside from cafés, excellent book stores, icecream-parlours, shops, and the Weimar Haus presenting Weimar's history in a rather interesting way, Schiller's home, open to the public, is located here. The Audio-Tour is excellent, by the way. Close by are the Nietzsche-Archives.

If you keep walking, you pass the restaurant "Am Frauentor." (If you'd like to try local pastries, cakes, and other specialties you can't find outside of Thüringen, this is the place to go.

 Turn around the corner (left) and walk by a couple of interesting stores and the Gingko-Museum, before you enter the central Markplatz.

Here you see the so-called 'Grüne Schloss' (left) where the tourist information office is located. They always have information on all the theater performances going on and also sell tickets. The grey building in the middle is called 'Lucas-Cranach Haus,' because this famous painter spent his last couple of months in this building. Here you find the 'Theater im Gewölbe,' staging hilarious performances thematically tied to Weimar's historical and cultural background. It's rather tiny and fills up soon, so if you'd like to go there and have tickets, it's advisable to be there early. Across from here and down the street, you find the Othello-Theater im restaurant Shakespeares. They offer dances, theater, and cabaret.

The other side of the market is dominated by the Weimar Rathaus, famous for its architecture as much as for its 'Glockenspiel' made of costly Meissner Porzellan:

We leave the market the way we came and walk towards Goethe's Haus am Frauenplan. Since there are so many visitors, they sell tickets for specific times--so if you want to take a look at how Goethe lived (don't miss his garden!) and also see some pieces of his amazing collections, you should plan to get your ticket early in the day. The Audio-Guide is excellent and fun to listen to while you freely wander through the rooms pretty much looking the way they looked while Goethe was living here.

If you feel you'd like to rest your eyes and brains for a while and maybe have a lunch-break in Weimar's beautiful 'Park an der Ilm,' you cross the market one more time and keep walking towards the world-famous Anna-Amalia-Bibliothek. Turn left and walk towards the Weimarer Schloss, housing one of the finest collections of paintings, graphic arts, and sculpture from the Middle Ages to the present.

You may save this for later and cross the bridge across the Ilm in order to take a walk, relax, and enjoy the views opening up at every corner, no matter whether it is spring or fall.
 

If you keep strolling, you'll reach Goethe's Gartenhaus where he preferred to stay in the summers and where he supposedly wrote his world-famous poem 'Der Erlkönig.If you catch a rather foggy day, you may perfectly envision this poem's atmosphere when you walk along the Ilm.

Also located in this park is the 'Parkhöhle Weimar' Originally built and used for storing beer, it was used as an air raid bunker in the second world war. A walk through its labyrinth gives an insight into Weimar's history above and under the ground.

Once you leave the Parkhöhle and turn right, you reach the Franz-Liszt Haus after a couple of minutes. It is fully and originally furnished and even contains a 'Flügel,' on which Liszt used to play. Liszt founded an academy for musicians--he thought that was necessary in order to school musicians to adequately perform the works of his friend Richard Wagner. The original 'Hochschule' was located in a former monastery (where Martin Luther spent a couple of nights) close to the Wittumspalais. The Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt Weimar draws students from all over the world. Would you have thought that Marlene Dietrich studied here?

If you continue your walk through the park, you'll pass a cemetery for Russian Soldiers.

Likewise located in the park is the 'Römische Haus.' As you see: it is impossible to see everything on one day.

Make sure you don't miss the concerts performed regularly at the Herder-Kirche, named after its most famous preacher.

From May to June, there are theater performances in the beautiful 'Biedermeiergarten' of the Kirms-Krackow-Haus.

And on the next morning, don't miss the Bus at 9.50 a.m. to Buchenwald!

All images courtesy of H.F. and J.B.