Weimar is an independent city in Thuringia in Germany, which is
best known for its cultural heritage. The middle town is located on
an arch of the Ilm, southeast of Ettersberg, the highest mountain in
the Thuringian Basin at 478 meters. The city is the fourth largest
in Thuringia after Erfurt, Jena and Gera and is located about
halfway between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east.
Weimar is a medium-sized center that partially fulfills the
functions of a regional center and has been officially designated as
a university town since 2004. In addition to the Bauhaus University,
the city is home to the Liszt School of Music and the Duchess Anna
Amalia Library. In addition, numerous authorities have their
headquarters in Weimar, for example the Thuringian Higher
Administrative Court, the Thuringian State Administrative Office,
the Thuringian Constitutional Court and the Thuringian State Office
for Monument Preservation and Archeology.
In addition to the
traditions of the Weimar Classics around Wieland, Goethe, Herder and
Schiller, the city's cultural heritage also includes the Bauhaus and
a large number of other high-ranking cultural legacies from the 16th
century (Lucas Cranach the Elder and the Younger), 17th century
Century (founding of the Fruit Bringing Society), 18th century
(Johann Sebastian Bach), 19th century (to be mentioned are Franz
Liszt, Richard Strauss, Friedrich Nietzsche, the landscape painters
of the Weimar School of Painting at the Grand Ducal Saxon Art School
Weimar) and 20th century (Harry Graf Kessler, Henry van de Velde).
The Bauhaus and its sites in Weimar (and Dessau) were declared a
World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1996, the “classic Weimar” in
December 1998. The last-mentioned decision was justified by the
"great art-historical importance of public and private buildings and
park landscapes from the heyday of classical Weimar." Humanity
recorded as World Document Heritage (Memory of the World). Since
2015, early writings of the Reformation have also been part of the
world document heritage, some of which are kept in the Duchess Anna
Amalia Library in Weimar. National and international cultural
heritage is presented in over 25 museums and exhibition venues.
Weimar had been the capital and residence of the Duchy of Saxony
and Saxony-Weimar from 1547/52, later Saxony-Weimar-Eisenach (from
1815: Grand Duchy). In 1816 this became the first state in Germany
to adopt a constitution. Parallel to the meeting of the National
Assembly from February 6, 1919 to September 1919, Weimar was
temporarily the seat of government of the Weimar Republic, which was
being constituted. From 1920 to 1952 Weimar was the capital of the
state of Thuringia. In 1999 it was the European Capital of Culture.
By plane
The nearest airport, Erfurt-Weimar (IATA: ERF), with no
scheduled connections, is only of minor importance for air traffic. When
using the Erfurt tram to the main station there, onward travel by train
is guaranteed. If you are driving by car, it is best to use the nearby A
71 and then the A 4, which makes driving through Erfurt's city center
unnecessary.
The nearest commercial airport with scheduled
flights is Leipzig Halle Airport (IATA: LEJ). Due to the good train
connection, Frankfurt Airport (IATA: FRA) can also be reached with a
change in Erfurt (journey time approx. 3 hours).
By train
With
the commissioning of the Halle/Leipzig − Erfurt high-speed line in
December 2015, Weimar is excluded from ICE traffic. There are still IC
trains from the Ruhr area via Kassel to Halle. From Berlin you have to
change in Halle and from Frankfurt in Erfurt.
Regional express
trains run every hour from the direction of Glauchau/Altenburg. The
trains from Glauchau continue to and from Göttingen, where there is a
connection with the ICE trains to/from Hamburg. From the train station
you can reach the city center about 750m away via Carl-August-Allee.
By bus
The central bus station is on August-Baudert-Platz in
front of the train station. Both long-distance buses and regional buses
operate here.
In the street
Weimar can be reached primarily
via the A4. The two connection points are Weimar and Nohra.
Coming from the south (Rudolstadt) you drive on the B 85, from the north
(connection to the A 38 from Göttingen) as well. East of the city, the B
87 Naumburg–Ilmenau crosses the B7.
By bicycle
Weimar is well
integrated into the Thuringian long-distance cycle path network:
Thuringian town chain, from Altenburg via Gera and Jena to Weimar it is
126 km, from Weimar via Erfurt to the end of the cycle path in Eisenach
it is another 100 km.
Ilmtal cycle path, from Allzunah to Weimar in
82 km, on to Großheringen in another 40 km. In Großheringen there is a
connection to the Saale cycle path
Laura Cycle Path, the regional
cycle path leads 46km from Weimar along the disused Laura railway line
to Schallenburg, where you have a connection to the Unstrut Cycle Path.
Eight city bus lines from Stadwerke Weimar cover the entire city
area, with all lines meeting at the Goetheplatz bus stop. All buses are
wheelchair accessible. A route map is on the back of the city map, which
is available for 20 cents (including in hotels).
Line 1 Weimar
North–Central Station–Goetheplatz–(Belvedere–) Ehringsdorf–Taubach
Line 2 Shakespearestraße–(Merketal–) Goetheplatz–(Hauptbahnhof–)
Bodelschwinghstraße
Line 3
Tiefurt-Goetheplatz-Tröbsdorf-Gaberndorf-Weimar North
Line 5
Klinikum-Goetheplatz-Central Station-Lützendorf-Weimar North
Line 6
Niedergrunstedt/Possendorf-Legefeld-Goetheplatz-Central
Station-Ettersburg/Buchenwald
Line 7 Weimar West-Goetheplatz-Central
Station-Schöndorf-Altschöndorf
Line 8 (Döbereinerstraße–)
Dürrenbacher Hütte–main station–Goetheplatz–Klinikum–Merketal
Line 9
Tiefurt-Goetheplatz-Suessenborn
There are also overland
connections to the surrounding communities. Weimar is in the tariff area
of the Verkehrsverbund Mittelthüringen (VMT). Association tickets are
also valid on city buses and trams, as is the Saxony
(Saxony-Anhalt/Thuringia) ticket.
Traffic with trolleybuses was
only discontinued in 1993.
Car rental for members via DB
Carsharing Flinkster at numerous locations in Weimar.
In the Evangelical Herder Church, actually the town church of St.
Peter and Paul (built 1498/1500) there are interesting tombs of
Weimaraner princes (including that of Duke Bernhard, Elector Johann
Friedrich the Magnanimous and his wife Sibylle) as well as Cranach's
famous altarpiece, the depicting the crucifixion of Christ. The church
owes its current name to the long-serving court preacher J. G. Herder.
In the northwest of the old town is the Jacobskirche from 1712,
behind it the Jacobsfriedhof with the burials of important personalities
(including Lucas Cranach the Elder).
Goethe and Schiller, on the
other hand, found their last resting place in the south of the city, in
the main cemetery in the princely crypt wikipediacommons. Next to their
coffins are the coffins of the rulers of the House of Saxe-Weimar and
Eisenach. Right behind it is the Russian Chapel (1862) with the tomb of
Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna.
Castles, palaces and castles
The
most notable building is the grand ducal city palace (Hornstein until
1651, then called Wilhelmsburg), a building constructed after the fire
of 1774 under Goethe's supreme leadership from 1790 to 1803, the
interior being just as richly as tastefully furnished. It contains,
among other things, the room of Duke Bernhard, the four "poet's rooms"
dedicated to Goethe, Schiller, Herder and Wieland, decorated with
excellent fresco paintings by Neher, Preller and Jäger, etc.
The National Theater am Theaterplatz, whose stage was one of the most
excellent in Germany under the direction of Goethe and Schiller, was
re-staged in 1825 and the interior was rebuilt and renovated in 1868.
At the market is the Cranach House , where the painter Lucas Cranach
the Elder and his son Lucas Cranach the Younger lived in the 16th
century.
One of the buildings most worth seeing is Goethe's house,
located further south on the Frauenplan and therefore also called the
house on the Frauenplan in the literature. The left wing of the building
is the main building of the Goethe National Museum
Duchess Anna
Amalia Library, Platz der Demokratie 1, 99423 Weimar. Tel.: +49 (0) 3643
545 400 (Foundation Klassik visitor information), fax: +49 (0) 3643-41
98 16, e-mail: info@klassik-stiftung.de. It is considered one of the
first publicly accessible princely libraries; Duchess Anna Amalia had
the current location converted into a library in 1766. A devastating
fire in 2004 damaged not only the building but also part of the
inventory. Today the famous rococo hall is open to visitors again, but
strictly limited for conservation reasons. Tickets should be booked in
advance through the visitor information. Open: Tue - Sat 9:30 - 14:30.
Price: €7.50.
Wittum Palace. The Wittumspalais is a city palace in
Weimar that was built between 1767 and 1769 and was inhabited by Anna
Amalia until her death in 1807. It contains a museum of aristocratic
living culture in Weimar in the 18th century.
Among the numerous monuments and memorials, the following stand out: the double statue of Goethe and Schiller by Rietschel (erected on the Theaterplatz in 1857), the Wieland monument by Gasser (1857) on the Wielandplatz, Herder's statue by Schaller (1850) in front of the town church and the Archbust of Grand Duke Carl August in the garden of the crossbowmen's house (1825).
Most of the museums are maintained by the Weimar Classics Foundation
- Museums and Palaces of Weimar Classics.
Bauhaus Museum,
Stéphane-Hessel-Platz 1, 99423 Weimar. Tel.: +49 (0)3643 54 54 00,
e-mail: info@klassik-stiftung.de . The new Bauhaus Museum was opened on
April 6, 2019. It shows the world's oldest Bauhaus collection and is
reminiscent of the early phase of the most important design and art
school of the 20th century.
Goethe National Museum, Frauenplan 1,
99423 Weimar. Tel.: +49 (0)3643 54 54 00, e-mail:
info@klassik-stiftung.de. Open: Apr - 15 Oct Tue - Fri, Sun 9am - 6pm,
Sat 9am - 7pm, 16 Oct - Mar Tue - Sun 9am - 4pm. Closed on Monday.
Kirms-Krackow-Haus, Jakobstrasse 10, 99423 Weimar. Museum of bourgeois
living culture of the 18th and 19th centuries.
Schiller Museum,
Schillerstrasse 12, 99423 Weimar. Tel.: +49 36 43 54 54 00, e-mail:
info@klassik-stiftung.de . Open: Apr - 15 Oct Tue - Fri, Sun 9am - 6pm,
Sat 9am - 7pm, 16 Oct - Mar Tue - Sun: 9am - 4pm. Closed on Monday.
Weimar House, Schillerstrasse 16, 99423 Weimar. Phone: +49(0)3643 9018
90, fax: +49(0)3643 90 21 70, email: info@weimarhaus.de. Private,
commercial museum on the history of the city of Weimar from the Stone
Age to Weimar Classicism. The individual epochs are presented in
dioramas by wax figures with elaborate light installations and
appropriate background noise. The museum is located in the pedestrian
zone near the German National Theater. In the Weimar House, tourists can
also rent pocket computers as electronic signposts with explanations for
a city tour. Open: daily from April to September: 9.30am - 6.30pm,
October to March: 9.30am - 5.30pm. Price: €7, reduced €5.50.
Museum
for Prehistory and Early History Thuringia, Humboldtstraße 11, 99423
Weimar. Phone: +49 3643 818-331. Open: Tue 9am-6pm, Wed-Fri 9am-5pm,
Sat, Sun and public holidays 10am-5pm. Price: €3.50, reduced €2.50.
Weimar City Museum in the Bertuchhaus, Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 5, 99423
Weimar. Tel.: +49 3643 826 00. Museum of the City of Weimar on the
history of the city. The City Museum has a second location on Gotheplatz
in the "Harry Graf Kessler" art gallery. Open: Tue-Sun 10am-5pm. Price:
€3, reduced €1.50.
Weimar Railway Museum, Eduard-Rosenthal-Strasse
49, 99423 Weimar. Tel.: +49 (0)177 338 54 15, +49 (0)1578 565 05 86. The
Thuringian Railway Association is located in the Weimar depot, and its
collection focuses on electric and diesel locomotives. The fleet
includes four E 44 and representatives of the classic GDR large diesel
series 219 and 228 (V 180). The association emerged in 1991 from the
working group 4/69 of the German Model Railway Association of the GDR,
moved into the shed of the Weimar depot in 1994 and today has 50
members. In May of each year there is a big railway festival with
changing slogans; third-party vehicles will also be on display. You can
see steam locomotives, electric locomotives, diesel locomotives,
battery-powered locomotives, trams, passenger cars, goods wagons,
baggage wagons. Open: Mar-Oct: Tue-Sun 08:00 - 14:00 and on the occasion
of railway festivals or by telephone agreement. Price: adults €3,
reduced (schoolchildren, pensioners, unemployed, children) €2.50.
A part of downtown Weimar is designated as a pedestrian zone. The
pedestrian zone begins at the market and stretches along Schillerstrasse
to Theaterplatz.
The Weimarplatz, with its peripheral development
now used by the Thuringian state administration office, was built
between 1936 and 1943 as a Gauforum with a central parade and parade
ground.
The charming park on the Ilm stretches in front of the residential palace, in which the Roman House, the Templar House and many places dedicated to the memory of Goethe are located. On the other side of the Ilm, near the park, is Goethe's garden house.
Weimar as a place of learning, city tours by "Stattreisen Weimar."
and the "Institute for Democracy and History"
Bauhaus walk,
self-assessment: "Walk through Weimar on the trail of the early Bauhaus
and experience the past and present of the Bauhaus University Weimar!"
Gallery Eigenheim, Karl-Liebknecht Str. 10. Tel.: +49 36 43 48 99 62,
e-mail: team@galerie-eigenheim.de. Operated by a young artist collective
in changing composition. info edit
ACC Cafe and Gallery, Burgplatz.
was originally called "Autonomes Cultur Centrum", meanwhile established
with various art activities, partly on a very high level. Very good
cuisine for international bohemians. The progressive gallery for all
genres of contemporary art is located on the upper floor and is usually
open until 6pm; occasional lectures and other events; regularly
Jazz-Musik.
C basement gallery and tea room. A Weimar cultural
institution since the turn of the century, often changing exhibitions of
varying quality, young audience, lunch menu and simple, inexpensive
meals until midnight.
Artists' House at the Zeughof. The Zeughof is
located between Theaterplatz and Herderplatz; Attempt to re-use the
building fragments remaining after bomb damage as an artists' house,
which already attracted great minds around 1900.
One of the best-known major events is the annual onion market with up to 350,000 visitors. It was already mentioned on October 4, 1653 as a "cattle and Zippelmarkt".
Windischenstraße - idyllic old town street with tradition, can be
reached directly via the Weimar market square.
Schillerstraße -
Weimar's most important shopping street with Schillerhaus and the
multimedia museum "WeimarHaus" leads from Theaterplatz to Frauenplan,
where the Goethehaus is located.
Weimar Atrium, Friedensstraße 1,
99423 Weimar. Tel.: +49 (0)3643 775690. A large shopping mall. It forms
the eastern end of the former Gauforum and occupies the space that was
once intended for the Great Hall of the People. Open: Mon - Sat 8 a.m. -
8 p.m.
Kaufland, Humboldtstrasse 90, 99425 Weimar. Tel.: +49 (0)3643
48790. Open: Mon – Fri 6 a.m. – 10 p.m., Sat 6 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Overview of Weimar gastronomy on the Bauhaus University website
All restaurants in the city and the surrounding area, some with pictures
and informational texts, in the Weimar business directory.
Cheap
1 Lalaba, Rudolf-Breitscheid-Str. 2a, 99423 Weimar. Tel.: +49(0)3643
7468-28, fax: +49(0)3643 7468 30, e-mail: mail@lalaba-catering.de.
Sandwich bar, friendly atmosphere. Located right next to the university
as a substitute cafeteria. Open: weekdays until 10 p.m., Saturdays until
6 p.m.
2 C-Keller gallery and tea room, Markt 21, 99423 Weimar. Tel.:
+49(0)3643 502755, fax: +49(0)3643 502840, e-mail:
postkasten@c-keller.de. A Weimar cultural institution since the fall of
the Wall, young audience, lunch menu, as well as simple, cheap food
until midnight. Open: Mon-Thu 1pm to 1am, Fri 1pm to 2am, Sat 4pm to
2am, Sun 4pm to 1am.
3 Zum Falken, Trierer Str. 7, 99423 Weimar.
Phone: +49(0)3643 505566, email: Franzi@zumfalken.de. Music on
Thursdays, sometimes also on Sundays, and often popular cooking on
Wednesdays.
4 Gerber3, Gerberstr. 3, 99423 Weimar. Tel.: +49(0)3643
514476, fax: +49(0)3643 512714. Formerly occupied house, socio-cultural
center with folk kitchen every lunchtime from 12 p.m., in the evening
from 8 p.m.
5 Restaurant India, Schloßgasse 17/19, 99423 Weimar.
Tel.: +49(0)3643 5618453. Indian dishes, great lunch specials. Open: Mon
– Thu 11 a.m. – 2.30 p.m. + 5 p.m. – 11 p.m., Fri + Sun 11 a.m. – 11.30
p.m.
6 Restaurant "Zum Onion", Teichgasse 6, 99423 Weimar. Phone:
+49(0)3643 502375, fax: +49(0)3643 402034, email: info@zum-zwiebel.de.
Good Thuringian cuisine.
7 Shanghai, Friedrich-Ebert-Strasse 28,
99423 Weimar. Phone: +49(0)3643 905503, email: info@shanghai-weimar.de.
Vietnamese cuisine. Open: daily 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. + 5 p.m. – 11 p.m.
8
Schnitzeloase Weimar, Rollplatz 8a, 99423 Weimar. Phone: +49(0)3643
852774, email: info@schnitzeloase-weimar.de. Huge selection of
schnitzels. Open: daily from 5 p.m.
Middle
9 ACC Café,
Burgplatz 1, 99423 Weimar. Phone: +49(0)3643 851161, +49(0)3643 259238,
fax: (0)3643-851162, email: post@acc-cafe.de. Small restaurant in the
cultural center, healthy, delicious food, cheap lunch, free WiFi,
accommodation in the house (apartment).
10 Creperie am Palais, Am
Palais 1, 99423 Weimar. Phone: +49(0)3643 40158 1, fax: +49(0)3643
40158-2, email: info@creperie-weimar.de. This French crêperie is located
in the historic city center of Weimar, at the back of the Wittumspalais.
It is cooked according to original Breton recipes. In addition to
galettes and crêpes, there are soups, salads, French raw milk cheese and
sausages to eat and fine French wines, beers and ciders to drink. Most
of the products come directly from France.
11 Köstritzer
Schwarzbierhaus, Scherfgasse 4, 99423 Weimar. Phone: +49(0)36 43 77 93
37, fax: +49(0)3643 - 77 93 39, email: info@ksb-weimar.de.
12
Sushibar in Weimar, Schützengasse 9, 99423 Weimar (opposite the
"Cinestar" cinema). Phone: +49 (0)3643 492331, email:
weimar99@hanmail.net. Originally the name was "Divan". However, the
owner was not assertive enough and now the also recommendable Turkish
restaurant next door in the Brauhausgasse is called that. Cheaper prices
than comparable sushi bars in big cities. Open: Mon-Fri 11:00 a.m. to
11:00 p.m., Sat 6:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.
13 El Nino, Carl-August-Allee
1, 99423 Weimar. Phone: +49(0)3643 495983, fax: +49(0)3643 4901946,
email: info@elnino-weimar.de. Spanish-Mexican restaurant. Alternating
weekly menu. Open: Tue – Fri 5:00 p.m. – 1:00 a.m., Sat + Sun 11:30 a.m.
– 2:00 a.m.
14 Felsenkeller Brewery, Humboldtstr. 37, 99425 Weimar.
Phone: +49(0)3643 414741, fax: +49(0)3643 14742, email:
kontakt@felsenkeller-weimar.de. Own brewery. Open: Tue – Fri 12:00 –
23:00, Sat 11:00 – 00:00, Sun + public holidays 11:00 – 22:00, closed on
Mondays.
15 Residenzcafe Weimar, Grüner Markt 4, 99423 Weimar. Tel.:
+49 (0)3643 59 40 8. Pleasant cafe for all occasions, near the palace
and park, with lunch menu. Open: daily 8:00 a.m. - 11:00 p.m.
Upscale
16 Dal Pescatore, Seifengasse 16, 99423 Weimar. Phone:
+49(0)3643 4628835, fax: +49(0)3643 4151371, email:
info@dalpescatore.de. In the summer, however, this restaurant seems to
transform into the garden restaurant "Il Giardino" in the wonderful
garden between Puschkinstrasse and Seifengasse. Open: Mon – Thu closed,
Fri – Sun 11:00 a.m. – 11:00 p.m.
17 Restaurant Charlotte,
Seifengasse 16, 99423 Weimar. Tel.: +49(0)3643 489320. Modern kitchen in
a timelessly stylish interior in a high-quality renovated medieval house
- in which the Weimar painting and drawing school is located - at
Seifengasse 16 right next to the house of Mrs. Charlotte von Stein. As
everywhere in Weimar, the prices are still bearable in national and
international comparison (main courses: 7 - 20 €). Open: Mon - Fri from
5.30 p.m., Sat + Sun from 11 a.m.
18 Gourmet restaurant Anna Amalia,
Markt 19, 99423 Weimar. Tel.: +49(0)3643 8020. Mediterranean cuisine at
the highest level, including a Michelin star. Open: Mar - Apr, Sep -
Dec: 6.30 p.m. - 11.30 p.m., days off: Sun + Mon; May – Aug: Bistro
Elefante daily 12.00 p.m. – 2.30 p.m.; Restaurant 6.30 p.m. – 11.30
p.m., days off: Sun + Mon.
19 joHanns Hof, Scherfgasse 1, 99423
Weimar. Phone: +49(0)3643 493617, email: info@restaurant-weimar.com.
Huge selection of fine wines. Open: Mon – Sat 11:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. +
from 5:00 p.m., Sunday is a day off.
20 Restaurant Anastasia,
Goetheplatz 2, 99423 Weimar. Phone: +49(0)3643 774814, email:
info@restaurant-anastasia.info. Huge selection of fine wines. Multiple
awards. Open: Tue – Sun 6:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m., closed on Mondays.
21
Jagemanns, Herderplatz 16, 99423 Weimar. Phone: +49(0)3643 901200, fax:
+49(0)3463 901201, email: info@jagemanns.de. Open: daily 11:00 a.m. –
12:00 a.m.
22 Zum Schwarzen Bären, Markt 20, 99423 Weimar. Tel.:
+49(0)3643 853847. Open: Mon – Sun 11:00 a.m. – 11:00 p.m.
1 C.Keller & Galerie Markt 21 e.V., Markt 21 (the entrance is located
somewhat inconspicuously between Café Roxanne and the jeweler), 99423
Weimar. Tel.: +49(0)3643 502755, fax: +49(0)3643 502840, e-mail:
postkasten@c-keller.de. Occasional lunchtime snacks & sandwiches are
available until evening. Very young audience. events such as B.
concerts, but also exhibitions. Open: Tea room is daily from 6 p.m.; Bar
from 9 p.m.
2 Kasseturm Weimar e.V. student club, Goetheplatz 10,
99423 Weimar. Phone: +49(0)3643 851670, email: chef@kasseturm.de.
Regular program, performances & live music on many weekdays; Beer
cellar, wine bar and 2 stages on a total of 3 floors.
3 Zum Falken,
Trierer Strasse 7, 99423 Weimar. Existentialist pub.
4 Gerberstrasse
1 – 3 House for Socioculture e.V., Gerberstrasse 1, 99423 Weimar. Tel.:
+49(0)3643 515468. Formerly squatted houses on Gerberstraße; everyone
can do whatever they want here. Regular folk kitchen and in the Gerber 3
usually warm meals from 8 p.m. until late. Open: Wunderbar: Tue – Thu
from 9:00 p.m., Fri + Sat from 8:00 p.m.
5 Smuggler's Irish Pub,
Friedrich Ebert-Strasse 2, 99423 Weimar. Large selection of different
types of whiskey, regular events such as live music or whiskey tasting.
Open: daily from 7 p.m.
When staying overnight in Weimar, it should be noted that a tourist
tax of €1 per night and person is due, which must be paid when paying
for the hotel room.
Cheap
1 Labyrinth Hostel Weimar,
Goetheplatz 6, 99423 Weimar. Phone: +49(0)3643 811822, fax: +49(0)3643
811821, email: info@weimar-hostel.com. Artfully creatively designed
hostel, centrally located. Cozy lounge with fully equipped communal
kitchen and sunny terrace. including coffee and tea, W-Lan, jukebox,
book exchange, art vending machine... Reception staffed from 7:30 a.m.
to around 10:00 p.m. Nice receptionists will be happy to help you
discover Weimar. Feature: pension. Price: Prices (without breakfast):
shared rooms from €13, double rooms from €19 to €23, single rooms from
€29 to €40, bed linen €2.
2 “Maxim Gorki” youth hostel, Zum Wilden
Graben 12, 99423 Weimar. Phone: +49 (0)36343 850750, fax: +49(0)3643
850749, e-mail: jgh-weimar@djh-thueringen.de. Youth hostel near the
center, 60 beds, 1 day room, mostly family-friendly rooms, 1 seminar
room, dining room, cellar bar with disco. Feature: pension. Open:
Annually from 22.12. until 27.12. closed. Price: Prices including
half-board and bed linen: €24 (under 27 years) or €27 (over 27 years).
From the 2nd night the price is reduced by €1.50. As with every youth
hostel, membership is required and in 2007 it cost €12 (under 27 years)
or €20 (over 27 years) annually.
3 "Am Ettersberg" youth hostel,
Ettersberg settlement, 99423 Weimar (north of the city of Weimar on the
Ettersberg). Phone: +49(0)3643 421111, fax: +49(0)3643 421112, email:
jgh-weimar@djh-thueringen.de. youth hostel, 66 beds, dining room, club
room, seminar room; open all year; Reservation via youth hostel "Maxim
Gorki". Feature: pension. Price: The same prices apply as in the first
youth hostel.
4 Pension Alter Zausel, Carl-von-Ossietzky-Strasse 11
and 13, 99423 Weimar. Tel.: +49(0)3643 773970, fax: +49(0)3643 773971,
e-mail: seidel@alter-zausel.de. Feature: pension. Price: single room
from €34, double room from €52.
5 Pension Ambiente, Wallendorfer
Strasse 5, 99423 Weimar. Phone: +49(0)3643 254335, email:
pension@ambiente-weimar.de. The pension is about 10 minutes walk from
the city center. Feature: pension. Price: Single room from €34, double
room from €52.
6 A&O Weimar, Buttelstedter Strasse 27c. Phone:
+49(0)3643 49300 3100facebook. Feature: 135 rooms. Payment types
accepted: debit card, credit card.
Middle
7 Hotel Thuringia,
Brennerstrasse. 42, 99423 Weimar (right next to the main train station).
Tel.: +49(0)3643 903675, fax: +49(0)3643 903676, e-mail:
rezeption@hotel-thueringen-weimar.de. very good kitchen! Price: Prices:
SR €49-56, DR €77-87.
8 Ginkgo Apartments, Windischenstr. 1, 99423
Weimar (directly at the market). Phone: +49(0)3643 805452, Fax:
+49(0)3643 805453, Email: Ginkgoferien@AOL.com. 2 apartments in the
middle of Weimar: The Ginkgo apartments "Johann Wolfgang" and
"Marianne". Price: Prices: from €35/day to a maximum of €90/day (prices
drop for longer stays).
9 Hotel "Am Frauenplan", Brauhausgasse 10,
99423 Weimar. Tel.: +49(0)3643 49440. Underground parking available.
Price: single room from €51, double room from €72.
10 Hotel am
Stadtpark, Amalienstrasse 19, 99423 Weimar. Phone: +49(0)3643 24830,
fax: +49(0)3643 511720, email: info@hotel-am-stadtpark-weimar.de.
Centrally located, arrival from 2 p.m. Price: Single room from €49,
double room from €78.
11 Hotel Café Kipperquelle, Kippergasse 20,
99425 Weimar. Phone: +49(0)3643 808888, fax: +49(0)3643 808887, email:
hotel@kipperquelle-weimar.de. The first cyclist hotel in Thuringia,
within walking distance to the old town. Price: Single room from €47,
double room from €61.
12 Hotel & Guesthouse "Zur Sonne", Rollplatz 2,
99423 Weimar. Tel.: +49(0)3643 86290. Kitchen with Thuringian dishes.
Open: Restaurant Mon – Thurs 11 a.m. – 11 p.m., Fri, Sat 11 a.m. –
midnight, Sun 11 a.m. – 8 p.m. Price: Single room from €48, double room
from €68.
13 Hotel-Pension Am Theater, Erfurter Strasse 10, 99423
Weimar. Tel.: +49(0)3643 88940, email:
kontakt@hotelpension-am-theater.de. Central location, approx. 200m from
Theaterplatz. Price: Single room from €46, double room from €66.50.
14 The Small Residence, Grüner Markt 4, 99423 Weimar. Tel.: +49(0)3643
743270, fax: +49(0)3643 502560, e-mail: frage@residenz-pension.de.
Directly at the Weimar Castle, approx. 2 minutes on foot to the market
square and the pedestrian zone. Feature: pension. Open: Residence Café:
daily from 8 a.m. Price: double room from 70€.
15 Apart-Hotel Weimar,
Berkaer Str. 75, 99425 Weimar. Phone: +49(0)3643 812300, fax: +49(0)3643
812500, email: kontakt@apart-hotel-weimar.de. Price: Single room from
€44, double room from €64.
16 Hotel-Pension Am Kirschberg, Am
Kirschberg 27, 99423 Weimar. Phone: +49(0)3643 871910, fax: +49(0)3643
8719116, email: info@hpweimar.de. Price: Single room from €45, double
room from €65.
17 The Small Hotel, Jahnstr. 18, 99423 Weimar. Tel.:
+49(0)3643 83530, fax: +49(0)3643 835353, e-mail:
info@das-kleine-hotel.de. Price: Single room from €53, double room from
€76.
18 Hotel Villa Hentzel, Bauhausstrasse 12, 99423 Weimar. Phone:
+49(0)3643 86580, fax: +49(0)3643 865819, email:
info@hotel-villa-hentzel.de. Price: Single room from €54, double room
from €75.
upscale
19 Dorint Am Goethepark Weimar,
Beethovenplatz 1/2, 99423 Weimar. Phone: +49(0)3643 8720, fax:
+49(0)3643 872100, email: info.weimar@dorint.com. The hotel offers 143
rooms & suites. Price: from €97 per room/night.
20 Leonardo-Hotel
Weimar, Belvederer Allee 25, 99423 Weimar (out of town towards
Mellingen). Phone: +49 36 43 722-0, fax: +49(0)36 43 722 23 20, e-mail:
info.weimar@leonardo-hotels.com.
21 Romantic Hotel Dorotheenhof
Weimar, Dorotheenhof 1, 99423 Weimar. Phone: +49(0)3643 459-0, fax:
+49(0)3643 459-200, email: info@dorotheenhof.com. Romantic hotel on the
outskirts of Weimar, located in its own park, 60 rooms (including 4
suites), 90 beds, "Le Goullon" restaurant.
22 Grand Hotel Russischer
Hof, Goetheplatz 2, 99423 Weimar (near the main post office). Tel.:
+49(0)3643 774-804, fax: +49(0)3643 774-841, e-mail:
reservierung@russianhof.com. Price: Prices: Single room comfort
€142-213, double room comfort €163-245.
23 Hotel Elephant, Markt 19,
99423 Weimar. Phone: +49(0)3643 8020, Fax: +49(0)3643 802610, Email:
elephant.weimar@arabellasheraton.com. In the GDR Interhotel, it now
belongs to the Starwood group. A truly legendary hotel that has played a
role in history and literature on numerous occasions. Price: Prices
(without breakfast): SR 106-209 €, DR 106-209 €, breakfast p.p. 20€.
Bauhaus University, Geschwister-Scholl-Strasse 8, 99423 Weimar.
Phone: +49(0)3643 58-0.
University of Music "Franz Liszt", Platz der
Demokratie 2-3, 99423 Weimar. Phone: +49(0)3643 555-0.
Weimar
painting and drawing school, Seifengasse 16, 99423 Weimar. Tel.:
+49(0)3643 505524. Groups of tourists and visitors to the city are
offered painting lessons in the studio or in the nearby park,
participation in a summer academy and weekend events.
Weimar Police Station, Am Kirschberg 1, 99423 Weimar. Phone: +49 (0)3643 8820.
Health
Hospitals
1 Sophien and Hufeland Clinic,
Henry-van-de-Velde-Strasse 2, Weimar. Phone: +49(0)3643 57-0. Modern
general hospital on the outskirts of the city, accessible by car via the
B85 direction Autobahn junction Weimar (A4), or with the city bus routes
no. 2, no. 5 and no. 8.
Pharmacies
2 Pharmacy station,
Carl-August-Allee 14, 99423 Weimar. Phone: +49 (0)3643 54320, fax: +49
(0)3643 59857, email: bahnhof@apotheken-weimar.de. Open: Mon-Fri
7am-7pm, Sat 9am-12pm.
3 Liszt Pharmacy, Lisztstrasse 1, 99423
Weimar. Phone: +49 (0)3643 53111, fax: +49 (0)3643 501850, email:
info@liszt-apotheke.de. Open: Mon - Fri 8 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sat 9 a.m. - 12
p.m.
4 Sonnen Pharmacy, Marcel-Paul-Strasse 48, 99427 Weimar. Tel.:
+49 (0)3643 422096, fax: +49 (0)3643 422097, e-mail:
kontakt@sonnenapotheke-weimar.de. Open: Mon - Fri 8 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sat 8
a.m. - 12 p.m.
5 Löwen Pharmacy, Goetheplatz 1, 99423 Weimar. Phone:
+49 (0)3643 24760, fax: +49 (0)3643 247623, email:
kontakt@loewenapotheke-weimar.de. Open: Mon - Fri 8 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sat 9
a.m. - 12 p.m.
6 Pharmacy at the clinic, Henry-van-de-Velde-Strasse
1, 99425 Weimar. Phone: +49 (0)3643 776260, fax: +49 (0)3643 776277,
e-mail: c.luedde@apo-am-klinikum-we.de. Open: Mon - Fri 8 a.m. - 6 p.m.,
Sat 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.
7 Goethe Pharmacy, Plan 3, 99425 Weimar. Tel.:
+49 (0)3643 516427, fax: +49 (0)3643 516429, e-mail:
goetheapo-weimar@t-online.de. Open: Mon - Fri 8 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sat 9
a.m. - 12 p.m.
8 Pharmacy at Jakobstor, Friedensstrasse 2, 99423
Weimar. Phone: +49 (0)3643 850800, fax: +49 (0)3643 850801, e-mail:
heike.oldenburg@t-online.de. Open: Mon - Fri 8 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sat 9 a.m.
- 12 p.m.
Tourist Information Weimar, Markt 10. Tel.: +49(0)3643 745-0, fax:
+49(0)3643 745420, e-mail: tourist-info@weimar.de. Open: Mon-Fri
09.30-18.00, Sat, Sun and public holidays 09.30-14.00.
Piazza of the
Bauhaus University, "marketplace" for events, rooms and apartments,
furniture, carpooling, jobs and much more information.
Local
appointment, city tours, trips and excursions in the area around the
city
Weimar as a place of learning, city tours by “Stattreisen
Weimar” and the “Institute for Democracy and History”
Bauhaus walk,
self-assessment: "Walk through Weimar on the trail of the early Bauhaus
and experience the past and present of the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar!"
m18 - House of the students of the Bauhaus University, among other
things the seat of the student convention, for all questions about
student life (or similar).
Weimar is around 200 meters above sea level in the middle of
Thuringia. The Ilm runs in an arc through the city. It enters the urban
area at Taubach in the southeast, flows on through Oberweimar and the
old town before leaving the urban area in a northeasterly direction
below Tiefurt. To the west stretches from the Ilmtal to the Thuringian
Basin. It is a fertile, gently rolling loess landscape in which the
districts of Gaberndorf, Tröbsdorf and Niedergrunstedt lie.
The
northern urban area is occupied by the Ettersberg. At 482 meters, it is
the highest mountain in the Thuringian Basin and stretches for around
eight kilometers from Ottstedt am Berge in the west to Schöndorf in the
east. The Ettersberg is covered with mixed beech and oak forest. The
Buchenwald concentration camp memorial is located on its summit.
The Ilm-Saale-Plate, a dry karst shell limestone formation, rises up in
the southern part of the city.[4] It sometimes falls steeply towards the
Ilmtal, for example in the Tiefurter Park. The Buntsandstein formation
of the Tannrodaer saddle lies south-west outside of the city area. The
highest elevations here are the 380 meter high Rosenberg and the 363
meter high Gelmerodaerhöhe. The Bundesautobahn 4 runs in this area
between the districts of Gelmeroda, Holzdorf, Legefeld and Possendorf.
The Belvederer Forest is the second forest area in the city next to the
Ettersberg.
The extension of the urban area is 13 kilometers
north-south and around 9 kilometers west-east. As part of the Thuringian
chain of cities, Weimar is around 20 kilometers east of Erfurt and 20
kilometers west of Jena. Apolda is 15 kilometers northeast.
geology
Weimar is located in the center of the Thuringian Mulde, a
Zechstein and Triassic sedimentary structure. The near-surface
geological subsoil of the city is characterized by the rocks of the
shell limestone and the Keuper. A number of faults in the urban area,
such as the Weimar Fault and the Oberweimar Fault, which run in a
northeast-southwest direction, and ridges created by folding complicate
the geological structure. The Ilm has been flowing along the Ilmgraben,
the depression created by the disturbances, since the Middle
Pleistocene, which brought alluvial gravel there. Pleistocene and
Holocene travertines and loess form overburdens, while Pleistocene
glacial solifluction tongues formed to the north-west. The Weimar urban
area is rich in karst forms in the area of the shell limestone. Due to
the leaching of gypsum in the middle shell limestone beneath the
limestone of the upper shell limestone, bowl-shaped to funnel-shaped
karst depressions and sinkholes were formed on the surface after caves
collapsed. Numerous examples can be found on the Ettersberg, southwest
of Belvedere and south of Possendorf. In the Quaternary, during the
Elster glacial period, the southernmost edge of the ice stretched as far
as Belvedere Palace. A memorial was erected there with a metal plaque
showing the location of the southernmost edge of the ice. There are
other "ice edge stones" at other representative locations, in the Gotha
Castle Park. Up to this line, erratic boulders and boulders have been
identified. Further north, only the Ettersberg remained ice-free. Due to
the faults, numerous springs, some of them pouring heavily, emerge at
the edges of the Ilm Valley, such as the Leutra springs in the Ilm Park
or the Herzquelle. The city was able to supply itself from these sources
for many years.
bodies of water
Some smaller Ilm tributaries
have been relocated several times since the Middle Ages, so that the
original course can no longer be determined today. The Lottenbach, which
comes from the Kirschbachtal in the (south)west, was divided within the
city area in order to supply various local businesses, including the
Bornmühle, which was later demolished, with service water. Like the
Asbach, the Lotte now runs underground in the area of the old town. The
Wilde Graben, which only occasionally had water, was separated from the
course of the Lotte and led through the former trenches to protect the
city center from flooding. The trench was also converted into an
underground channel in the 19th century.
Due to its location, Weimar belongs to the vegetation zone of the summer green deciduous forest in the humid climate area. The local climate is influenced by the location "behind" the Ettersberg, which shields the city to the north and north-west. As a result, the climate is somewhat warmer and drier than in other regions of central Thuringia. The average precipitation is 574 mm/year (DWD).
The oldest core of settlements in Weimar is the area between Graben,
Schillerstrasse and the City Palace, with Herderplatz as the focal
point. As late as the Middle Ages, the Jakobsviertel north of the Graben
up to Friedensstraße was included in the city fortifications. In the
18th century the city grew beyond its medieval limits and the city walls
were demolished. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the city grew
rapidly in different directions. The northern suburbs developed between
the old town and the railway line around the main roads leading to
Ettersburg and Buttelstedt, in the west between Schwanseestrasse and
Humboldtstrasse the western suburb, in the south the southern part of
town between Berkaer Strasse and Belvederer Allee. In the east, along
Jenaer Straße, the Parkvorstadt developed. Due to the high proportion of
civil servants and employees, there are mainly villas and town houses
and relatively few tenements in these quarters. Between the First and
Second World Wars, the Ettersberg settlement was built five kilometers
to the north. During the time of the GDR, hardly any population growth
was recorded in Weimar. The prefabricated housing areas of Weimar-North
on the Thuringian Railway, Weimar-West on the Berka Railway and
Schöndorf-Waldstadt north of the city on the Ettersberg emerged.
Commercial space is concentrated in the area behind the train station
and to a lesser extent to the west near Erfurter Strasse. New
development areas emerged after 1990, especially in the newly added
districts of Gaberndorf, Sessenborn and Legefeld. A number of new
commercial areas were created in the vicinity.
Weimar is divided
into ten statistical districts in the core city and eleven incorporated
districts. They are detailed in the list of districts of Weimar.
Weimar's neighboring communities are all in the district of Weimarer
Land. They are named clockwise, starting in the north-west: Am
Ettersberg, Ettersburg, Ilmtal-Weinstrasse, Umpferstedt, Mellingen,
Vollersroda, Buchfart, Hetschburg, Bad Berka and Grammetal.
The skeleton of the Ehringsdorf prehistoric man was found in
Ehringsdorf, a district in the southeast of Weimar, in 1925. Its age is
estimated at around 200,000 to 250,000 years. These are the fossil
remains of a woman between the ages of 20 and 30. Human skull bones were
discovered in the same quarry as early as 1908.
In 2020, on a
hill south of Weimar, near the Belvedere Palace, the remains of a
settlement of the Tapped Ceramics, i.e. from the 1st half of the 5th
millennium BC, were discovered. discovered. The settlement was on the
southern edge of the distribution area of this early farming culture. In
addition to settlement and post pits, the remains of two pit houses and
pottery were found. Other finds from the time of the Aunjetitz culture
and from the pre-Roman Iron Age prove the repeated use of the location
favorable for settlement (today with a view of Weimar).
In 1850,
a large, badly worn copper cauldron was found about 6 m deep in a peat
excavation near Possendorf, which had been repaired several times. Seven
vessels were arranged around it. There was also an anthropomorphic
wooden figure with tucked-in arms. Nearby was a large oak tree and a
human skeleton. The cauldron is dated between the 4th and 1st centuries
BC. Dated to around the turn of the 2nd to the 1st century. A longer use
of the place is not to be determined. It could be a ritual burial of
cult objects.
First mentioned (899), County of Weimar (from 946),
earliest settlement (around 1250), Wettin (from 1365)
The oldest
records of Weimar date back to 899. The name goes back to the Old High
German or Old Saxon words wīh for "sanctuary, temple" and mer, meri for
"lake, sea" and thus originally meant "sanctuary lake". Early surviving
forms are "actum Wimares" ([9th cent.] 1150/65), "in Wimeri" ([984]
1012/18), "de Wimari" (1123/37), "Wymar" (1506) and finally "Weimar"
(1556).
Between 946 and 1346, the County of Weimar (later as the
County of Weimar-Orlamünde) existed as an independent political entity.
Emperor Otto II mentioned the Burg Weimar settlement in a document
issued for the Fulda monastery on June 3, 975; this is considered the
"birth certificate of the city", although it is not entirely certain
whether "Wimares" really means the present-day city. It could also have
meant the place Wechmar, which fits much better into Otto's presumed
itinerary. On the other hand, it is certain that, although the castle
was by no means a stone one, but only a wall system provided with
palisades, it must have been relatively safe. Both the troops of King
Otto III, who besieged Count Wilhelm II of the Weimar noble family in
his castle in 984, and the Ekkehardins fighting for dominance in
Thuringia in 1002 had to give up the siege without success. It was
destroyed in the winter of 1173/74 by Landgrave Ludwig III. from the
house of the Ludowinger, who had meanwhile risen to become a territorial
power in Thuringia. However, it was quickly rebuilt, because in 1214
there was another siege of what was expressly called castrum Wimar this
time.
In 1250 there is also talk of a settlement for the first
time, which must have formed earlier in the protection of the castle.
The later town church was built between 1245 and 1249 and consecrated to
the apostle Peter by 1254 at the latest and by 1433 to the two apostles
Peter and Paul. The patronage of the town church was handed over to the
Teutonic Knights on September 16, 1284, which provided the clergy until
the Reformation. The order, which was subordinate to the diocese of
Mainz, had extensive property around the town church and in Rittergasse,
which fell to the town in 1525. From 1307 at the latest, the knightly
order was entrusted with the school system, with nursing from 1383 in a
hospital on the site of today's stables.
After the Ludowinger
died out in 1247, the Counts of Weimar-Orlamünde found it difficult to
hold their own against the Wettins, who had taken over most of Thuringia
after the Thuringian-Hessian War of Succession. First they sold
Orlamünde to the House of Wettin and finally, after the defeat in the
Thuringian War of Counts in 1365, they also had to cede Weimar as a fief
to the House of Wettin. Since the division of Leipzig, it was in the
hands of the Ernestine line of the Wettins and from 1547, after the
Wittenberg capitulation and the associated loss of the previous capital
Wittenberg, their headquarters.
Urban development, city rights
(1410), capital of Saxe-Weimar (1552)
It was not until 1410 that
Weimar received city rights and thus a legal status comparable to that
of other Wettin cities. However, from about 1350 under the Counts of
Orlamünde and from about 1406 under Frederick the Peaceful of Thuringia
until the founding of a Thuringian state mint in Weimar after 1444, the
city had a municipal mint. The upswing that followed the granting of
town rights was soon destroyed by a devastating town fire in 1424. The
people of Wettin tried to promote the reconstruction by means of
repeated tax exemptions, interest exemptions and the granting of
additional market rights. The most important measure was to expand the
previously insignificant fortifications of the castle complex to the
entire city. A double city wall was created in the form of a double ring
at a distance of eight to ten meters with ten towers and four
additionally fortified gates. Remnants of this city fortification are
still there today, including the Kasseturm on Goetheplatz. At the
beginning of the 16th century, the reformer Martin Luther made quarters
in the town's Franciscan monastery several times.
In 1552 Duke
Johann Friedrich the Magnanimous made Weimar the capital of the Duchy of
Saxe-Weimar (later Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach). It remained the capital and
residence of this state until 1918.
From 1561 to 1681 witch hunts
also took place in Weimar. Six people have been charged in witch trials.
In 1628, the events surrounding the sovereign Duke Johann Friedrich von
Sachsen-Weimar, who confessed to a pact with the devil and was found
dead in his cell a day later, became particularly well known. Two women
were beheaded and burned in 1669 and 1676.
The Thirty Years' War
was not without consequences for Weimar. A tombstone of Hans Melchior
Marschall was found in the Jakobsvorstadt in the oldest part of Weimar
in the Jakobskirche.
On October 4, 1653, the Weimar Onion Market
took place for the first time, originally a market for fruit and field
crops, which has now become a folk festival with national appeal.
"Golden age"
The city played an important role as a place of
Weimar Classicism during the reign of Duchess Anna Amalia and under her
son Duke Carl August at the end of the 18th/beginning of the 19th
century through the presence of Wieland, Goethe, Herder, Schiller and
Falk as well as other important ones personalities of the era. This is
how the legend of the Weimar Musenhof came about. It is undoubtedly true
that Anna Amalia liked to be around scholars. The Wittumspalais and the
Castle of Tiefurt and the associated Tiefurter Journal bear witness to
this. For his part, Carl August was on the one hand willing to employ
artists at his court, but on the other hand he also gave them the
freedom to realize what they themselves believed in. Duke Carl August
was considered tolerant and enlightened; In 1816 he was also the first
monarch of Germany to give his state a constitution. This was even
called the “Basic Law”! The Wartburgfest of German students of 1817 was
held on its territory.
The pleasure palace Falkenburg, built in
1732, was already destroyed in 1756 during the Seven Years' War. Under
Duchess Anna Amalia, the old city fortifications of Weimar were
completely demolished. Among those include the Kasseturm and the
Stadtturm. The latter became the storage tower of the Duchess Anna
Amalia Library. With the walls down, houses were built that had been
destroyed by the Seven Years' War. In the wake of the Battle of Jena and
Auerstedt in 1806 and the French occupation and finally the Battle of
the Nations near Leipzig, Weimar was not spared looting and destruction.
The fire in the Weimar city palace in 1774, which was followed by a new
building, was not spared either. However, the small residential city of
Weimar became a hotbed of world literature. The Duchess Anna Amalia
Library played a key role in this. Architectural testimonies were
created during this time, which also embodied not only the Weimar
Classic, but the Classic Weimar on the outside. Some of them are on the
list of UNESCO monuments in Weimar. There are numerous buildings in
Weimar that belong to classicism. This corresponded not least to the
ideas of Goethe and Carl August, which were then implemented under
Clemens Wenzeslaus Coudray. The park design of the park on the Ilm, the
castle and park Tiefurt, Belvedere are to be emphasized here. Sculptors
such as u. a. Martin Gottlieb Klauer and Peter Kaufmann left their mark
on Weimar's cityscape. Ultimately, this period is the heyday of the
Weimar Court Theater, where Goethe himself once worked as director.
The golden age of Weimar ended, so to speak, with the death of
Goethe in 1832. In a way, it was also the “Goethe age”. A time of
spiritual and cultural paralysis began, which was resolved in the
subsequent "Silver Age".
"Silver Age"
Under the Grand Duchess
Maria Pavlovna and her son Carl Alexander and his wife Grand Duchess
Sophie, the city experienced a new boom on an artistic and cultural
level. In 1842 Franz Liszt was appointed Kapellmeister; In 1849 Richard
Wagner fled to his sponsor and later father-in-law in Weimar before
settling down in Switzerland; In 1850, Liszt got Wagner's Lohengrin
premiered in Weimar.
But not only the music was promoted; In
1860, Carl Alexander founded the Grand Ducal Saxon Art School in Weimar,
where Arnold Böcklin, Franz Lenbach and Reinhold Begas taught. The
realistic art movement they shaped went down in art history as the
Weimar School of Painting. The memory of the Weimar Classics was another
concern of Carl Alexander and his wife: the monuments to Goethe,
Schiller, Herder and Wieland erected on his behalf still adorn the
cityscape today. In 1859/60 the reading museum (today Niketempel) was
built at Maria Pavlovna's expense for the reading society founded in
1831, whose aim was to give its members and the public access to
magazines. She also donated a number of public fountains in Weimar,
which were built by the stone sculptor Carl Dornberger. Monuments to the
poets were erected in prominent places. These are the Herder Monument,
Wieland Monument and the Goethe and Schiller Monument.
As a
result, industrialization also left its mark on Weimar. In the 1860s,
Weimar's industrial site developed at the Dürrenbacher Hütte. The
railway is also worth mentioning, e.g. with the Weimar train station.
This was followed by rapid population growth due to increased mobility.
This previously presented u. the founding of the German Customs Union in
1833 also set the national course. Although the German small-state
system was not overcome, it was softened.
In the "Silver Age" the
workers' movement took off, for example in the cultural field with the
founding of the Friendship Singers' Association in 1885, which was led
to a cultural flowering by the court choir singer and choir conductor
Emil Steiniger from 1907 and caused various subsequent foundings of
workers' choral societies in the surrounding area. At the inauguration
of the first Thuringian trade union house, the "Volkshaus", with a
speech by Reichstag member August Baudert on April 26, 1908, the
Friendship Singers' Association also sang.
New Weimar
Carl
Alexander's grandson Wilhelm Ernst also committed himself i.a. the
promotion of fine arts. Under his rule, Weimar became a center of
modernism. In 1910 he raised the Grand Ducal Saxon Art School in Weimar,
founded by his father, to the status of a university. As early as 1905
he had founded the Weimar School of Sculpture under the direction of
Adolf Brütt. In 1907 the Grand Ducal Saxon School of Arts and Crafts in
Weimar was founded on the initiative of the Belgian architect Henry van
de Velde, who had the necessary school of arts and crafts built in
1905/06 and was also responsible for the planning of the Art Nouveau
building opposite from 1904 to 1911 for the Weimar School of Arts and
Crafts . In 1903, van de Velde designed the interior for the Nietzsche
archive in the Villa Silberblick in Weimar and in 1907–1908 built the
Hohe Pappeln house in Belvederer Allee for himself and his family. In
1908, the new German National Theater Weimar was built on the site of
the old Weimar Court Theater. The Deutscher Schillerbund was founded in
Weimar in 1906.
In 1846, Weimar was connected to the railway
(Halle–Erfurt line). Another important railway line was the
Weimar-Geraer Bahn, opened in 1876, to Jena and Gera. In 1887 the
Weimar-Rastenberg railway to Buttstädt (since 1946 closed) and the
Ilmtalbahn to Bad Berka followed. Nevertheless, Weimar did not
experience the great industrial upswing that occurred in other
Thuringian towns after the railway connection. Weimar continued to be an
administrative and residential city. On November 9, 1918, after
negotiations with August Baudert, Wilhelm Ernst renounced the throne of
the Grand Duchy for himself and his descendants and moved with his
family to Heinrichau (today: Henryków).
In 1919, the constituent meeting of the National Assembly took place
in the German National Theater in Weimar, which was constituted after
the abolition of the monarchy and the proclamation of the republic.
Because of the location, parliamentary Germany as it existed from 1919
to 1933 was known as the Weimar Republic. On May 1, 1920, Weimar also
became the capital of the newly founded state of Thuringia. The Bauhaus
was also founded in Weimar in 1919 through the merger of the art school
in Weimar with the Grand Ducal Saxon School of Applied Arts in Weimar,
founded in 1907 by Henry van de Velde.
During the Kapp Putsch by
the reactionary military against the constitutional order, hundreds of
Weimar workers took part in a general strike in defense of the
democratic republic. When they gathered for a rally in the Volkshaus on
March 15, 1920, Reichswehr soldiers shot at them and killed nine
demonstrators. After the putsch was defeated, the director of the
Bauhaus, Walter Gropius, erected a memorial on behalf of the local trade
union cartel in honor of the dead, who in memory of that day in March
have since been called the "March fallen" - in reference to the victims
of the revolution of 1848 from the same month. The memorial, popularly
known as "The Flash", was inaugurated on May 1, 1922.
In the
run-up to the National Socialist era, Weimar's cultural workers fought
veritable "publication battles". In particular, the clashes between the
free-thinking group around Harry Graf Kessler and the
folkish-nationalist group around Adolf Bartels kept the city in constant
polarity. This also led to the relocation of the Bauhaus from Weimar to
Dessau in 1925.
Politically, Weimar developed into a center of
conservative and nationalist currents between the wars. The second party
congress of the NSDAP, the first after its re-establishment in February
1925, took place on July 3rd and 4th, 1926 in Weimar. At the special
conference for youth issues in the Armbrust club, today's cinema at
Schützengasse 14, the Greater German Youth Movement (GDJB) was declared
the only party youth and at a special conference for youth issues, at
the suggestion of Julius Streicher, it was finally renamed Hitlerjugend,
Bund deutscher Arbeiterjugend. Weimar is also a place of colonial
thought. For example, the colonial fountain was erected in Weimar,
donated by the German Colonial Warriors' Association on the occasion of
the "Colonial Conference" on September 7, 1930. This was removed again
after 1945. For the National Socialists, Weimar had a double symbolic
meaning: as the founding place of the hated republic and as the center
of the great German cultural tradition. Hitler himself visited Weimar
more than 40 times. In 1939, half of all employed persons in the city
worked as civil servants in the administration. The city was also very
popular as a retirement home between the world wars.
Despite weak
industry, the population grew rapidly, from around 37,000 in 1914 to
around 50,000 in 1928. Tourism also developed well. However, the loss of
wealth due to inflation, labor unrest and the economic crisis of 1923/24
increased the distance between the middle class and the Weimar Republic.
The global economic crisis of 1929 was followed by a significant decline
in tourism.
A national-conservative milieu developed, from which
the DVP and the DNVP in particular benefited. This development was
supported by currents within the evangelical church. During the National
Socialist period, Weimar was a stronghold of German Christians.
As early as March 1930, Wilhelm Frick, Minister of the Interior and
Public Education, became the first Nazi minister to appear in a state
government, which led to the police in Weimar being infiltrated by
National Socialists. The NSDAP also established itself in Weimar and
eventually ran in the 1932 city council elections together with the DNVP
and DVP. In the Reich Presidential elections in March and April 1932,
the NSDAP candidate Hitler received 34.5% and 42.8% of all votes in
Weimar, respectively, while the KPD candidate Ernst Thälmann still got
10.5% and seven percent respectively. In August 1932, the NSDAP took
over the government in Thuringia under the NSDAP Gauleiter Fritz
Sauckel, who resided in Weimar.
As everywhere in the Reich, the persecution of political and
humanistic opponents began when Adolf Hitler took over the
chancellorship. On April 1, 1933, Jewish shops and establishments were
boycotted. On June 21, 1933, a book burning took place in what is now
the district of Niedergrunstedt at the midsummer celebration of the
German National Clerks' Association in imitation of the "Action against
the un-German spirit". In 1937, a large number of works of modern fine
art were confiscated from the palace museum as part of the Nazi action
“Degenerate Art”. Most were subsequently destroyed.
Numerous
opponents of National Socialism were sentenced to prison and prison
terms and sent to the first concentration camps in Nohra and Bad Sulza
and later to the Buchenwald concentration camp, one of the largest on
German soil. Nevertheless, communist and social-democratic resistance
groups were formed, which carried out investigations and sabotage work.
Clergymen and other followers of the Confessing Church also opposed
measures taken by the Nazi regime.
Death sentences against
enemies of the National Socialists were also carried out in Weimar or
executed by the People's Court in the Brandenburg prison. After the
November pogrom of 1938, numerous Jewish Weimar residents left the city
to emigrate. From 1942, the Jews who remained in the city were deported
to the extermination camps in the east using Reichsbahn transports. The
memorial book of the Federal Archives for the victims of the Nazi
persecution of the Jews in Germany (1933-1945) lists the names of 62
Jewish residents of Weimar who were deported and mostly murdered.
Opposite the KunstTurm, at Friedrich-Ebert-Straße 58/corner of
Bahnstraße, was the former Alexanderhof restaurant, which played an
inglorious role during the Nazi era.
In the Gestapo headquarters
Marstall (see here) prisoners were cruelly tortured and killed. When the
SS and Gestapo withdrew in April 1945, 149 prisoners, including seven
women, were murdered in Webicht. After the war, a memorial stone was
erected there for the victims. Forced sterilizations were carried out in
the city's hospitals and disabled people were transferred to
"euthanasia" institutions. Hundreds of forced laborers and prisoners of
war died and were buried in the main cemetery. At the spot where 114
unknown prisoners of the Buchenwald concentration camp are buried in a
common grave, there is today a "memorial grove for the victims of
fascism" inaugurated on September 12, 1948, on which surviving
resistance fighters were given a grave of honor or a commemorative
plaque.
Weimar, as the Gau capital of the “Protective and
Trutzgau Thuringia”, was given a military boost by the Nazi Gau
leadership with the construction of Wehrmacht barracks on the
Lützendorfer Flur. One of their prominent literary recruits was the poet
Wolfgang Borchert, who was encouraged here in the anti-militaristic
impetus of his works. It didn't stop there. With the Gustloff works on
Kromsdorfer Strasse and in Buchenwald, Weimar also became a production
facility for armaments.
Due to the cultural importance of Weimar,
the city received special attention from Hitler. A far-reaching redesign
of the city was planned by the architect Hermann Giesler and partially
implemented. The Gauleiter of Thuringia, Fritz Sauckel, had part of the
Asbachgrünzug district and the viaduct demolished in order to build a
Gauforum. Important buildings of this period were:
Hotel Elephant
NS press house, 1934/1935, after the reunification editorial office of
the "Thuringian State Newspaper"
State Office for Racial Affairs,
1934/1935, today Bauhaus University Weimar
House of the Reich Medical
Association, 1935, today Bauhaus University Weimar
Gauforum Weimar
with
House of the branches of the NSDAP, from 1936, today house 3 of
the Thuringian State Administration Office (TLVwA)
Hall of the
People's Community, from 1937, today the Weimar Atrium shopping center
Building of the German Labor Front, 1937, today House 2 of the TLVwA
Building of the Reichsstatthalter and the Gauleitung, from 1938, today
House 1 of the TLVwA
District headquarters of the NSDAP, 1936/1937,
today Weimar city administration
Emmy-Göring-Stift, 1936/1937, today
annexed to the Marie-Seebach-Stift
Nietzsche Memorial Hall, used as a
radio station from 1937 until the turn of the millennium
Livestock
auction hall, 1937, burned down completely on April 22, 2015
Villa
Sauckel – official residence of the “Reich governor” Fritz Sauckel,
1937/1938, today the training center of the Federal Employment Agency
Guest house of the city of Weimar, 1939/1940, today a student residence
Replacement housing on X-Strasse, 1937/1939, today
Ferdinand-Freiligrath-Strasse
Administrative building of military
district IV, around 1934/1935, today the administrative court in Weimar
NS residential development in the Windmühlenstrasse area, 1930s
In the summer of 1937 construction of the Buchenwald concentration camp
on the Ettersberg began. Of the approximately 250,000 prisoners, more
than 56,000 were murdered there by 1945. On April 11, 1945, US troops
reached the vicinity of the camp. The increasing noise of battle and the
sounding of enemy alarms caused most of the guards to flee. In this
situation, the International Military Command (IMK) was able to give the
order to overpower the remaining guards. Although the US troops had
received a radio call for help from the camp on April 8, the prisoners
were only able to disarm the remaining SS men after the US army had
arrived in the Weimar region. US Sergeant Paul Bodot reported to the
III. US Army on April 11 that the camp was in the hands of a
well-organized detainee committee.
During bombing raids – almost
exclusively by the USAAF – on Weimar on February 9th and 27th and on
March 10th, 1945, the city center was badly damaged. 965 tons of bombs
were dropped. On February 9, 1945 alone, around 460 residents lost their
lives in a daytime attack by 198 B-17 “Flying Fortress” bombers from an
altitude of around 6,000 meters. Among them were 80 of 90 children from
the NSV kindergarten (today the “Hufeland” day care center). A total of
1,254 residents and 600 Buchenwald prisoners died in the air raids. 325
buildings were destroyed and another 210 badly damaged. Among them were
the Herder Church, the Yellow Castle, the Jägerhaus, the armory, the
Wittumspalais, the Templar House in the Goethe Park, the scenery at the
Theaterplatz, the State Museum, the National Theater, the court
pharmacy, the Stadthaus, the Fürstenkeller and the Gasthof zum Erbprinz.
Also affected were: Goethe House, Vulpius Houses, Schiller House,
Residenzschloss, Goethe's Garden House, Kirms-Krackow House, Sächsischer
Hof and Deutschritterhaus. These culturally valuable buildings were
largely rebuilt, quite a few - despite the general shortage - already
shortly after the war.
In the last months of the war, Weimar and
the surrounding area also suffered heavily from low-flying aircraft
attacks. Particularly tragic was the death of 117 Allied prisoners of
war who died on February 27, 1945 on the autobahn west of Weimar as a
result of gunfire from American fighter-bombers.
Monuments - such
as the Goethe-Schiller monument in front of the theater - had been
"enclosed" because of the impending air raids. Movable cultural property
was moved outside. Museum stocks were taken to Schwarzburg Castle, to
the Wachsenburg Fortress near Arnstadt, to the Dornburg Castles and to
the State Carving School in Empfertshausen/Rhön. However, valuable
objects were stolen there under the American and especially the Soviet
occupation, especially many paintings.
A production complex for
armaments and military vehicles was built in the Kromsdorfer Straße area
between 1939 and 1942. From this, the Weimar factory was to develop in
GDR times. This was also affected by the bombing. This was Gustloff-Werk
I. Gustloff-Werk II was built in the immediate vicinity of Buchenwald
concentration camp.
Weimar was also affected by Nazi military
justice. This did not just extend to military personnel who were on duty
in the vicinity of Weimar, as the following example shows. At the end of
the Second World War, Lieutenant Colonel Josef Ritter von Gadolla, an
Austrian, decided not to obey the order for the absolute defense of
Gotha and, as combat commander, prevented the destruction of Gotha. This
action cost him his life, as he was arrested by Wehrmacht soldiers on
the way to the advancing Americans, and one day after Gotha's surrender
on April 5, 1945 in the Weimar Mackensen barracks on the Ettersberg
because of the "abandonment of the permanent place Gotha ' was sentenced
to death and summarily shot. Gadolla thus became a victim of Nazi
military justice. The verdict was overturned in 1997 and he was thus
rehabilitated.
Weimar during the US occupation, in the SBZ and
the GDR
After the 3rd US Army had reached the Buchenwald
concentration camp, which was in the hands of the Buchenwald
International Camp Committee, on April 11, 1945, and an American city
command had been set up in Weimar, the latter ordered a compulsory visit
by one thousand residents to the liberated camp to inform them to show
the horror of the concentration camp. At the beginning of July, US
troops withdrew from Thuringia, and the period of Soviet occupation also
began in Weimar.
Weimar became a major base for Soviet troops
with command of the 8th Guards Army at nearby Nohra. They occupied the
former Wehrmacht barracks.
In 1945, the Wednesday club “Key” in
Weimar, which had existed since 1847, was dissolved. On August 12, 1945,
on the site of the Buchenwald concentration camp, Buchenwald Special
Camp No. 2 was put into operation by the Soviet secret police, the NKVD.
By the time the special camp was closed in February 1950, around 7,000
of the 28,000 inmates had died there. Georg Haar and his wife are also
victims of Stalinism, although they committed suicide.
After the
Second World War, Weimar initially remained the state capital of the
state of Thuringia, which was expanded in 1945 to include the Prussian
areas around Erfurt. After the dissolution of the state of Prussia on
February 25, 1947, which was also legally completed with the Allied
Control Council Law No. 46, Erfurt was declared the state capital of
Thuringia on July 7, 1948. With the formation of the districts in the
GDR in 1952, the state of Thuringia, like the other states of the SBZ,
lost its function. Weimar was now a municipal district in the district
of Erfurt.
On June 17, 1953 and June 18, 3,000 employees went on
strike in the VEB combine harvester factory in Weimar. They demanded a
reduction in labor standards and the resignation of the SED government.
On both days, people's police guard units armed with rifles and a Soviet
army platoon with two heavy machine guns at the factory gate prevented a
march to demonstrations in the city. On June 18, the Soviet city
commander declared a state of emergency in the city and district. Strong
forces of the Soviet Army were stationed at all public buildings and
"important objects". The main futile demand of the strikers on June 18
was the release of the 17 representatives ("ringleaders") they had
elected the day before and who had been arrested the night before. The
clerk Max Zimmermann (1902–1977), who headed the strike committee, was
later sentenced to 6 years in prison. On June 18, 1953, the 26-year-old
mechanic Alfred Diener from Jena was summarily shot by the Soviet Army
in Weimar. There were also isolated movements of opposition in Weimar.
On June 29, 1955, Gerhard Benkowitz, Russian teacher and deputy
headmaster of the Pestalozzi School in Weimar, and Hans-Dietrich Kogel,
clerk for planning and statistics at the Weimar city administration,
were executed with a guillotine in Dresden after a show trial in Berlin.
They were u. a. Contacts with the combat group against inhumanity (West
Berlin) have been charged.
In the GDR, Weimar was a well-kept
“jewel” that could also be presented to foreign countries, at least in
terms of its tourist focus. During the entire period of the GDR, the
Lord Mayor did not belong to the SED (but always his deputy), but to the
CDU. One of them was Luitpold Steidle, who was able to push through an
Albert Schweitzer monument, the only one in the GDR. During this time,
new parts of the city were also built in Weimar using prefab
construction with thousands of apartments on the outskirts: from 1962
Weimar-North, from 1978 Weimar-West and from 1986 Schöndorf-Waldstadt.
One of the largest garrisons of the Soviet armed forces in Thuringia
was located in and near Weimar until the withdrawal at the beginning of
the 1990s due to the Two Plus Four Treaty. The combat helicopters
stationed in neighboring Nohra were particularly annoying for the
population.
Weimar also played a role in the peaceful revolution
in the GDR in 1989/90. As early as the 1980s, various non-conformist
groups had emerged that acted independently of state structures - and
sometimes outside of the Protestant parish - and developed oppositional
tendencies. In the spring of 1989, the falsified GDR local elections of
May 7, 1989, caused outrage and protests - Pastor Erich Kranz was one of
the first in Weimar to doubt the results and sought talks with those
responsible. It was also Erich Kranz who, a few months later, invited to
open discussion in the Jakobskirche with the Bible word "Suchet der
Stadt Beste" on October 4, 1989 - because the crowd was very large, they
moved to the larger and then also overcrowded church City Church of St.
Peter and Paul. Beginning on October 24, 1989 and starting from
Democracy Square, large-scale demonstrations took place every Tuesday.
On October 31, the number of participants was estimated at 15,000. The
marches led to state offices, including and especially to the district
offices of the Ministry for State Security. The demonstrations were led
by Pastor Christoph Victor, Deacon H.J. Olbrecht and activists from the
New Forum. First, democracy in the GDR and the opening of the Stasi
archives, and later the reunification of Germany, were demanded.
Since German reunification
On November 5, 1993, the EU culture
ministers decided to nominate Weimar as the European Capital of Culture
for 1999. This was a particular challenge, since the city of Weimar was
practically bankrupt in 1995 and Horst Krautter was the first German
municipality to use an external controller. Krautter, who comes from
Württemberg, was employed by the state municipal supervisory authority
together with the former city treasurer Egbert Geier to reorganize the
city's finances. Otherwise, Weimar would have threatened the appointment
of a state commissioner.
Weimar's special cultural-historical
significance across different epochs has already been recognized several
times by UNESCO. In 1996, the Bauhaus and its sites in Weimar and Dessau
were included in the World Heritage List, with Weimar being represented
by three objects: the former School of Arts and Crafts in Weimar,
today's main building of the Bauhaus University in Weimar and the Haus
Am Horn. Another entry followed in 1998, which declared the ensemble of
classical Weimar, made up of a total of eleven different monuments in
the city, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In 1999, the Friedrich Nietzsche
College of the Klassik Stiftung Weimar created a place for free
discussion of philosophy, science and culture. In 2001, Goethe's
literary legacy from the Goethe and Schiller Archive was included in the
World Document Heritage (Memory of the World).
Since May 1st,
2004, the city of Weimar has been known as a university city. In 1996,
the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar was expanded from a college to a
university.
In 2004 and 2008 the city received a gold medal in
the national competition Our city is in bloom.
On the evening of
September 2, 2004, a fire in the Duchess Anna Amalia Library destroyed
50,000 books. There were considerable losses of works from the 16th to
the 20th century. Immediately afterwards, work began on rebuilding the
library and reconstructing damaged but not completely burned works. The
reopening took place on October 24, 2007 in the presence of Federal
President Horst Köhler.
Since May 7, 2008, 15 stumbling blocks
laid by the Cologne performance artist Gunter Demnig in front of their
last homes have commemorated the fates of Jewish residents of Weimar who
were persecuted by the Nazis and became victims of the Shoa.
On
September 23, 2008, the city was awarded the title of “Place of
Diversity” by the federal government.
In 1955, the population of the city of Weimar reached its historic
high of almost 67,000. The population has remained relatively stable
since the late 1930s and has fluctuated between 60,000 and 67,000 the
whole time - despite high unemployment and a decline in the birth rate
since the fall of communism in the GDR in 1989. The incorporation of
today's districts of Gaberndorf, Gelmeroda, Legefeld, Niedergrunstedt,
Possendorf, Süßenborn, Taubach and Tröbsdorf in 1994 was decisive for
the population development of Weimar after reunification. In recent
years, however, Weimar has recorded the highest population growth of any
Thuringian municipality. In addition to an almost balanced birth rate,
this is mainly due to a positive migration balance (2008: +266; 2007:
+317; 2006: −29; 2005: +175; 2004: +160). In the years 2001 to 2003,
gains from migration were particularly high, since a second home tax had
previously been introduced, which prompted students in particular to
convert their second home into a first home.
The following
overview shows the population according to the respective territorial
status. Up to 1833 these are estimates, after that they are census
results (¹) or official updates from the respective statistical offices
or the city administration itself. The information relates from 1843 to
the "local population", from 1925 to the resident population and since
1966 to the " Population at place of main residence". Before 1843, the
number of inhabitants was determined using inconsistent survey methods.
Denomination statistics
According to the 2011 census, 4.3% of the
inhabitants were Protestant and 1.7% Roman Catholic, with 94% all people
who belonged to another or no public religious community or belonged to
94% were summarized under "Other, none, unspecified". for which no
information was available.
Christianity
In addition to the
town church of St. Peter and Paul, the Evangelical Lutheran parish also
includes the Jakobskirche and other facilities. In addition, Weimar has
a regional church community. The Catholic parish includes the parish
church of the Sacred Heart, the Carmelite convent of St. Teresa with
other branch parishes in the city. The Russian Orthodox Church was built
according to the will of Maria Pavlovna in 1860 and belongs to the
congregation of St. Mary Magdalene. In addition, there is the
English-speaking St. Michael's Church Thuringia, which celebrates its
services in the Kreuzkirche and in the Augustinian Church in Erfurt, as
well as a New Apostolic Church.
Among the Free Churches in Weimar
there is a Christ Community, a Free Evangelical Community and an
Evangelical Free Church Community. Others are the father's house in
Weimar and an Adventist church that has existed since 1907.
Other
religions
Jehovah's Witnesses maintain a church in Weimar. There is
also a Sunni Al-Chulafā' mosque on Rießnerstrasse, run by the Haus des
Orients association. Hare Krishna is also represented in Weimar.