Weimar[a] is a city in theGerman state ofThuringia, inCentral Germany betweenErfurt to the west andJena to the east, 80 km (50 mi) southwest ofLeipzig, 170 km (106 mi) north ofNuremberg and 170 km (106 mi) west ofDresden. Together with the neighbouring cities of Erfurt and Jena, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia, with approximately 500,000 inhabitants. The city itself has a population of 65,000. Weimar is well known because of its cultural heritage and importance in German history.
The political history of 20th-century Weimar was volatile: it was the place whereGermany's first democratic constitution was signed after theFirst World War, giving its name to theWeimar Republic (1918–33), which existed between the end of World War I and the rise of the Nazis. It was also one of the cities mythologized byNazi propaganda.
Until 1948, Weimar was the capital of Thuringia. Many places in the city centre have been designated asUNESCO World Heritage Sites, either as part of theClassical Weimar complex (containing monuments to the classical period of Weimar in 18th and 19th centuries) or theBauhaus complex (containing buildings associated with the Bauhaus art school).[4][5]Heritage tourism is one of the leading economic sectors of Weimar.
Archaeological finds dating back to theThuringii epoch (3rd to 6th centuries) show that the Weimar part of theIlm valley was settled early. A tight network of settlements occupied much of the area of today's city.
The Kasseturm is a relic of the former city wall at Goetheplatz.
The oldest records regarding Weimar date to 899. Its name changed over the centuries fromWimares throughWimari toWimar and finally Weimar; it is derived fromOld High Germanwīh- (holy) and-mari (standing water, swamp).[6] The place was the seat of theCounty of Weimar, first mentioned in 949, which was one of the most powerful jurisdictions inearly Middle Ages Thuringia. In 1062 it was united with theCounty of Orlamünde into the new County of Weimar-Orlamünde, which existed until theThuringian Counts' War in 1346. It fell to theWettins afterwards.
The Weimar settlement emerged around the count's wooden castle and two small churches, dedicated toSaint Peter (which later became the main church), and toSaint James, respectively. In 1240, the count founded the dynasty's monastery in Oberweimar, run byCistercian nuns. Soon after, the counts of Weimar founded the town, which was an independent parish since 1249 and calledcivitas in 1254. From 1262, the citizens used their own seal. The regional influence of the Weimar counts was declining as the influence of the Wettins in Thuringia increased. Hence, the new small town was relatively marginal in a regional context, also due to the fact that it was located far from relevant trade routes, such as theVia Regia. The settlement around Saint James Church developed into a suburb during the 13th century.
After becoming part of Wettin territory in 1346, urban development improved. The Wettins fostered Weimar by abolishingsocage and granting privileges to the citizens. Now Weimar became equal to other Wettinian cities likeWeißensee and grew during the 15th century, with the establishment of atown hall and the current main church. In 1438 Weimar acquired trade privileges for woad, a plant from which blue dye was made. The castle and the walls were finished in the 16th century, making Weimar into a full city.
Market Square with some 16th-century Renaissance patricians' housesWeimar in 1650
After theTreaty of Leipzig (1485) Weimar became part of the electorate of the Ernestine branch of Wettins withWittenberg as capital. TheProtestant Reformation was introduced in Weimar in 1525;Martin Luther stayed several times in the city. As the Ernestines lost theSchmalkaldic War in 1547, their capital Wittenberg went also to the Albertines, so that they needed a new residence. As the ruler returned from captivity, Weimar became his residence in 1552 and remained as such until the end of the monarchy in 1918. The first Ernestine territorial partition in 1572 was followed by various ones, nevertheless Weimar stayed the capital of differentSaxe-Weimar states. The court and its staff brought some wealth to the city, so that it saw a first construction boom in the 16th century. The 17th century brought decline to Weimar, because of changing trade conditions (as in nearbyErfurt). Besides, the territorial partitions led to the loss of political importance of the dukes of Saxe-Weimar and their finances shrunk. The city's polity weakened more and more and lost its privileges, leading to the absolutist reign of the dukes in the early 18th century. On the other hand, this time brought another construction boom to Weimar, and the city got its present appearance, marked by various ducal representation buildings. The city walls were demolished in 1757 and during the following decades, Weimar expanded in all directions. The biggest building constructed in this period was theSchloss as the residence of the dukes (north and east wing: 1789–1803, west wing 1832–1835, south wing: 1913–1914). Between 1708 and 1717Johann Sebastian Bach worked as the court's organist in Weimar.
The period from the start of the regencies ofAnna Amalia (1758–1775) and her sonCarl August (1775–1828) through to Goethe's death in 1832 is denoted as the "golden" or the "classical" age because of the high level of cultural activity in Weimar. The city became an important cultural centre of Europe, having been home to literary figures includingGoethe,Schiller,Herder,Wieland andBertuch; and in music the piano virtuosoHummel. It has been a site ofpilgrimage for the German intelligentsia since Goethe first moved to Weimar in 1775. Goethe was also active in civic duties while living there. He served as Privy Councilor to the Grand Duke ofSaxe-Weimar-Eisenach for an extended period. The tombs of Goethe and Schiller, as well as their archives, may be found in the city. Goethe'sElective Affinities (1809) is set around the city of Weimar. In comparison to many major German states, the dukes' policy was liberal and tolerant in this period. The liberal Saxe-Weimar constitution was brought into effect in 1816.
The time after Goethe's death is denoted as the "silver" age because Weimar remained an influential cultural centre. The first emphasis was fostering music. In 1842,Franz Liszt moved to Weimar to become the Grand Ducal court conductor. Liszt organized the premiere ofRichard Wagner'sLohengrin (1850) as well as the world première ofSaint Saëns' operaSamson et Delilah (1877) in the city. TheWeimar School of Music was founded in 1872 as Germany's first orchestra school.Richard Strauss worked in Weimar between 1889 and 1894 as second conductor in the acclaimed Staatskapelle Weimar (the court orchestra founded in 1491). Several of his encores for works such asDon Juan andMacbeth were performed by the Staatskapelle Weimar. He also premièred Humperdinck's operaHänsel and Gretel 1893 in Weimar.Friedrich Nietzsche moved to Weimar in 1897, and died there three years later.
As early as the 19th century, the curation of Weimar and its heritage started. Many archives, societies and museums were founded to present and conserve the cultural sights and goods. In 1846, Weimar was connected by theThuringian Railway. In the following decades, the city saw a construction and population boom (like most late-19th century cities in Germany). Nevertheless, Weimar did not become industrialised, and remained a city of clerks, artists and rentiers. During theGerman Revolution of 1918–19 the last reigning grand duke ofSaxe-Weimar-Eisenach, William Ernest, had to abdicate and went in exile toHeinrichau in Silesia.
The period in German history from 1919 to 1933 is commonly referred to as theWeimar Republic, as the Republic'sconstitution was drafted there rather thanBerlin. The capital was considered too dangerous for theNational Assembly to use as a meeting place because of street rioting during theSpartacist uprising. Reich PresidentFriedrich Ebert favored Weimar because he hoped it would remind the victorious Allies of Weimar Classicism while they were deliberating the terms of theTreaty of Versailles.[7] Since the calm and centrally located Weimar had a suitable place of assembly (thetheatre), hotels and infrastructure, it was chosen as the host city.
In 1919,Walter Gropius founded the Bauhaus School by a merger of the Weimar Saxon-Grand Ducal Art School with the Kunstgewerbeschule Weimar. The Bauhaus in Weimar lasted from 1919 to 1925, when it moved toDessau, after the newly elected right-wing Thuringian council put pressure on the school by withdrawing funding and forcing its teachers to quit. Many buildings in Weimar today have influences from the Bauhaus period. However, only one original Bauhaus building was constructed during 1919–1925, theHaus am Horn, now used for exhibitions and events on Bauhaus culture.
The Weimar Republic era was marked by a constant conflict between progressive andVölkisch forces, the former represented by Harry Graf Kessler and the latter byAdolf Bartels in Weimar. TheWeimarer Zeitung was published in Weimar as a local newspaper. After 1929, the right-wing forces prevailed and Weimar became an early centre ofNazism.
Weimar was important to the Nazis for two reasons: first, it was where the hated Weimar Republic was founded, and second, it had been a centre of German high culture in recent centuries. In 1926, theNSDAP held its party convention in Weimar.Adolf Hitler visited Weimar more than forty times prior to 1933. In 1930,Wilhelm Frick became minister for internal affairs and education in Thuringia – the first NSDAP minister in Germany. In 1932, the NSDAP came to power in Thuringia underFritz Sauckel. In 1933, the firstNazi concentration camps were established around Weimar inNohra (the first one in Germany) andBad Sulza. Most prisoners at this time were communists and social democrats. AfterKristallnacht in 1938, harassment of Jews became more intense, so that many of them emigrated or were arrested. The Weimar Synagogue was destroyed in 1938.
During the 1930s, the barracks in Weimar was greatly extended. One famous person serving as a soldier in Weimar wasWolfgang Borchert, later a well known poet and playwright. As it was the capital of Thuringia, the Nazis built a new Roman-fascist-style administrative centre between the city centre and the main station. ThisGauforum [de], designed byHermann Giesler, was the only Nazi governmental building completed outside Berlin (though there were plans for all German state capitals). Today it hosts the Thuringian State Administration. Other Giesler buildings are theVilla Sauckel [de], the governor's palace and theHotel Elephant [de] in the city centre.
The city centre was partially damaged by US Air Force bombing in 1945 with some 1,800 people killed and many historic buildings destroyed. Nevertheless, most of the destroyed buildings were restored soon after the war because of their importance in German cultural history. The Allied ground advance into Germany reached Weimar in April 1945, and the city surrendered to the US80th Infantry Division on 12 April 1945.[11] The residents of Weimar were ordered to walk through Buchenwald, to see what had been happening so close to the city, as documented inBilly Wilder's filmDeath Mills. The city ended up in theSoviet occupation zone of Germany, so US troops were soon replaced by Soviet forces.
From 1945 to 1950, the Soviet Union used the occupied Buchenwald concentration camp as aNKVD special camp to imprison defeated Nazis and other Germans. The camp slogan remainedJedem das Seine. On 6 January 1950, the Soviets handed over Buchenwald to theEast GermanMinistry of Internal Affairs.
In 1948, the East German government declared Erfurt as Thuringia's new capital, and Weimar lost its influence on German contemporary culture and politics. (The state of Thuringia itself was dissolved in 1952 and replaced by threeBezirke (districts) in a local government reform; Weimar belonged to the Bezirk of Erfurt.) The city was the headquarters of theSoviet Union's 8th Guards Army as part of theGroup of Soviet Forces in Germany. Due to its fame and importance for tourism, Weimar received more financial subsidies from the GDR government and remained in better condition than most East German cities.
The destroyed Anna Amalia Library in 2004
After German reunification in 1990, Weimar experienced significant economic hardship, but funding restored much that had deteriorated. In 1991, the city hosted the first trilateral meeting between the foreign ministers of Germany, France and Poland giving its name to theWeimar Triangle format.[12] It was designated as aUNESCOWorld Heritage Site in 1996 (Bauhaus) and 1998 (Classical Weimar). TheEuropean Council of Ministers selected the city asEuropean Capital of Culture for 1999. Tourism has become an important economic factor over the decades. Weimar is now a popular residence of people working in Erfurt andJena, both less than 20 minutes away.
In 2004, a fire broke out at theDuchess Anna Amalia Library. The library contains a 13,000-volume collection including Goethe's masterpieceFaust, as well as the duchess's music collection. An authenticLuther Bible from 1534 was saved from the fire. The library is one of the oldest in Europe, dating back to 1691, and is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Over one million volumes were housed in the library, of which forty to fifty thousand were damaged beyond repair. A number of books were shock-frozen inLeipzig to save them from rotting. The library was reopened in 2007.[13]
Weimar is situated within the valley of the Ilm river, a tributary of theSaale river on the southern border of theThuringian Basin, a fertile agricultural area between theHarz mountains 70 km (43 mi) to the north and theThuringian Forest 50 km (31 mi) to the southwest. The municipal terrain is hilly; the height of the city centre in the Ilm valley is approximately 200 m of elevation. To the north, the terrain rises toEttersberg, the city's backyard mountain, 482 m in height. The range of hills in the south of Weimar rises up to 370 m and is part of the Ilm Saale PlateMuschelkalk formation. The eastern, central and western parts of the municipal territory are in agricultural use, whereas the Ettersberg and some southern areas are wooded.
Weimar has ahumid continental climate (Dfb) or anoceanic climate (Cfb) according to theKöppen climate classification system.[14][15] Summers are warm and sometimes humid with average high temperatures of 23 °C (73 °F) and lows of 12 °C (54 °F). Winters are relatively cold with average high temperatures of 2 °C (36 °F) and lows of −3 °C (27 °F). The city's topography creates a microclimate caused through the basin position with sometimesinversion in winter (quite cold nights under −20 °C (−4 °F)). Annual precipitation is only 535 mm (21.1 in) with moderate rainfall throughout the year. Light snowfall occurs, mainly from December through February, but snow cover does not usually remain for long.
The city itself is divided into 10 inner urban and 11 suburban districts. The centre is formed by the districtAltstadt (old town) and theGründerzeit districtsNordvorstadt in the north,Parkvorstadt in the east andWestvorstadt in the south and west. Later additions areSüdstadt in the south andSchönblick in the southwest. Finally, there are thePlattenbau settlements, constructed during theGDR period,Weststadt andNordstadt as well as two industrial areas in the north and west.
The 11 suburban districts are villages which became incorporated during the 20th century; however, they have mostly stayed rural to date:
Over the centuries, Weimar remained a small town of less than 5,000 inhabitants. When it became the capital of Saxe-Weimar in 1572, population growth was stimulated and the population increased from 3,000 in 1650 to 6,000 in 1750. Around the year 1800, Weimar had 7,000 inhabitants. Their number grew constantly over the years to 13,000 in 1850, 28,000 in 1900 and 35,000 at the beginning of World War I. During the interwar period, the new capital of Thuringia saw a population boom, which led to 65,000 inhabitants in 1940. Since that time, the population levels have stagnated. The years 2009 to 2012 brought a moderate growth of approximately 0.35% per year, whereas the population in bordering rural regions is shrinking with accelerating tendency. Suburbanization played only a small role in Weimar. It occurred after the reunification for a short time in the 1990s, but most of the suburban areas were situated within the administrative city borders.
The birth surplus was +3 in 2012, this is +0.0 per 1,000 inhabitants (Thuringian average: −4.5; national average: −2.4). The net migration rate was +4.5 per 1,000 inhabitants in 2012 (Thuringian average: -0.8; national average: +4.6).[18] The most important regions of origin are rural areas of Thuringia,Saxony-Anhalt andSaxony as well as foreign countries like Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Hungary, Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria.[citation needed]
Like other eastern German cities, Weimar has a relatively small foreign population (compared to the German average): circa 4.0% are non-Germans by citizenship, while 7.9% have a migrant background (according to2011 EU census).[19] Differing from the national average, the biggest groups of migrants in Weimar areVietnamese people,Russians andUkrainians.[citation needed] During recent years, the economic situation of the city improved: the unemployment rate declined from 20% in 2005 to 5.1% in 2019.[20] Due to the official atheism in the formerGDR, most of the population is non-religious. 21.1% are members of theEvangelical Church in Central Germany and 6.8% are Catholics (according to 2011 EU census).[21]
TheClassical Weimar World Heritage Site consists of 11 sites related to Weimar as a European centre of theEnlightenment during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.[4]
TheBauhaus and its Sites in Weimar, Dessau and Bernau World Heritage Site comprises six separate sites, two in Weimar, which are associated with the Bauhaus art school, which had a revolutionary influence on 20th century architectural and aesthetic thinking and practice.[5]
Goethe's garden house in thePark an der Ilm shows an exhibition about Goethe and his connection to nature.
TheSchiller-Museum at Schillerstraße shows the life ofFriedrich Schiller in his former residence.
TheGoethe- und Schiller-Archiv at Hans-Wahl-Straße collects the estate of Goethe, Schiller and other various artists. In 2001, it became a member of the UNESCOMemory of the World Programme.
TheWittumspalais at Theaterplatz shows early-modern court lifestyle with items like furniture and porcelain.
TheLiszt-Haus at Marienstraße shows the life ofFranz Liszt in his former summer residence.
TheBauhaus-Museum at Theaterplatz shows an exhibition about theBauhaus design school.
TheSchlossmuseum inside the residence castle exhibits early-modern antiques and other objects of court life.
TheDuchess Anna Amalia Library at Platz der Demokratie is an important early-modern library with various print objects.
TheNeues Museum at Weimarplatz shows an exhibition of contemporary art.
TheStadtmuseum at Karl-Liebknecht-Straße exhibits the municipal history of Weimar.
TheKunsthalle Harry Graf Kessler at Goetheplatz hosts rotating exhibitions of contemporary artists.
TheHaus am Horn at Am Horn street was the first building designed entirely on the design principles of the Bauhaus art school.
TheFürstengruft at the historic cemetery is a mausoleum of famous Weimar citizens like Goethe and Schiller as well as the dukes of Saxe-Weimar.
TheMuseum für Ur- und Frühgeschichte Thüringens (museum of pre- and protohistory of Thuringia) at Humboldtstraße exhibits various objects of early Thuringian history such as archaeological finds.
TheDeutsches Bienenmuseum (German bee museum) at Ilmstraße in Oberweimar district hosts the only pure exhibition about bees and apiculture in Germany.
The historic city centre of Weimar is situated between the Ilm river in the east, Grabenstraße in the north, Goetheplatz and Theaterplatz in the west and Schillerstraße in the south. Its two central squares are the Marktplatz in the south (with the town hall) and the Herderplatz in the north (with the main church). Despite its medieval origin, there are only a few medieval buildings, many being destroyed by frequent fires throughout the city's history. Most buildings in this area date back to the 17th and 18th century. Furthermore, Weimar has two old suburbs: in the north, theJakobsvorstadt around St. James' Church (medieval origin) and another one in the south around Frauenplan square. The majority of buildings in these areas are also of 17th- and 18th-century origin. During the late 19th and early 20th century, Weimar grew in all directions. Because of its function as an "officials' city", the houses in these areas are more substantial than in many comparableGründerzeit quarters in Germany. The most uptown areas are those right and left of thePark an der Ilm in the southeast, whereas the western and northern quarters are more basic and mixed with industrial areas in their outer parts. During the GDR period, two newPlattenbau settlements were developed in the west and the north of the city. After 1990, suburbanization occurred for a short time and the rural districts of Weimar saw significant growth as part of the larger city.
The city's main church is the EvangelicalSt. Peter and Paul on the Herderplatz (known as Die Herderkirche). It was rebuilt in late Gothic style after a fire around 1500. Between 1726 and 1735, the interior underwent a Baroque remodelling by Johann Adolf Richter.Johann Gottfried Herder was the dean of the church between 1766 and 1803. The second old Evangelical church of Weimar is St. James on Rollplatz, rebuilt in 1712 in Baroque style. The Roman Catholic parish church of Weimar is dedicated to the Sacred Heart and was built between 1888 and 1891 in historicist forms imitatingFlorence Cathedral. Another church is the Russian Orthodox Chapel within the historic cemetery. It was built in 1862 as the funerary chapel ofGrand Duchess Maria Pavlovna and was one of the first Russian-styled buildings in Germany.
Interesting churches in the suburban districts are the Lutheran parish church ofGelmeroda, which was the inspiration for many paintings byLyonel Feininger, and the Lutheran parish church ofOberweimar, which was a former monastery, and is a good example of Gothic architecture in Weimar.
Due to its function as a ducal residence, Weimar is rich in early-modern castles and palaces. The biggest one is theStadtschloss at Burgplatz in the city centre. Today's four-wing building was started after a great fire in 1774. The tower and the Bastille building at its south-western edge are relics of older castles in this place.
TheFürstenhaus at Platz der Demokratie was the first parliament building in Weimar, established in the 1770s. Today it is in use by the Weimar School of Music. TheGreen Castle next to the Fürstenhaus was built in the 1560s in Renaissance style and hosts today theDuchess Anna Amalia Library. TheYellow Castle at Grüner Markt was built in 1703 and is the municipal library today. The neighbouringRed Castle is also part of the library and was built in the 1570s. TheWittumspalais is a smaller widow mansion near Theaterplatz, established in 1768. Outbildings of the ducal residence are theHusarenstall (1770), the later residence ofCharlotte von Stein at Ackerwand street, theMarstall (1870s) at Kegelplatz, today used as Thuringian State Archive and theReithaus (1710s) within thePark an der Ilm.
Court of the Stadtschloss
Fürstenhaus
Green Castle
Red Castle
Wittumspalais
Husarenstall
Reithaus
Furthermore, there are some impressive ducal country residences around Weimar. They are marked by their beautiful parks and gardens.Schloss Belvedere, south-east of Weimar was built between 1724 and 1732 in Baroque style with an orangery near to a ducal hunting forest. North-east of Weimar, atEttersburg lies another ducal hunting lodge next to the Ettersberg mountain and its forest,Schloss Ettersburg. It was established between 1706 and 1711 also in Baroque style. The third summer residence,Schloss Tiefurt, is located inTiefurt, north-east of Weimar. The small lodge in a wide park in Ilm valley was rebuilt in 1775 in late-Baroque forms.
The town hall at Marktplatz was built between 1837 and 1841 in Neo-Gothic style byHeinrich Heß after the former one (15th-century) burnt down.
The two main buildings ofBauhaus University at Marienstraße are icons of 20th-century early-modern architecture. Both were built byHenry van de Velde between 1904 and 1911. They mark the transition from older Historicism and Art Nouveau to the new international modern style in Germany by their functional forms (e. g. skylights for better working conditions inside).
The German National Theatre at Theaterplatz was built in 1906/07 in neo-classicist forms. Two predecessors were in use after 1779 and 1825 as ducal court theatres during Weimar's golden age. In 1919, theWeimar National Assembly developed the Weimar Constitution in this theatre.
TheGauforum at Weimarplatz is a Roman-fascist style representative government district between the city centre and the main station. This Gauforum, designed byHermann Giesler, was the only realized Nazi government district outside Berlin (whereas there were plans for all German state capitals). Today it hosts the Thuringian Administration State Department.
ThePark an der Ilm is the city's largest park alongIlm river between the ducal palace and the district of Oberweimar. It was established between 1778 and 1833 and is anEnglish landscape garden today, part of UNESCO world heritage. Sights inside the park areGoethe's garden house (1690s) andRömisches Haus (in the style of a Roman temple, 1790s).
The Historic Cemetery at Karl-Haußknecht-Straße was opened in 1818 and hosts the graves of Goethe, Schiller and many other famous people from Weimar.
TheGoethe-Schiller-Denkmal at Theaterplatz is the most famous memorial in Weimar. It was made byErnst Rietschel between 1852 and 1857 and is dedicated to Goethe and Schiller, the most important poets of German classical literature.
A rather unknown monument is the Lenin-light-box inside the theatre hall "La Redoute". It's a copy of a stained window by Alexander Leonidovich Korolev that shows Lenin in Petrograd (St. Petersburg).[22]
The Onion Market (Weimarer Zwiebelmarkt) is an annual festival held in October in Weimar and it is Thuringia's largest festival. The festival is held over 3 days and approximately 500 stalls and more than 100 stage performances are put up across the city.[23]
Weimar first celebrated the Onion Market in 1653. Stalls typically offeronion plaits, themed arts and crafts and numerous onion-based foods, including onion cakes, onion soups and onion breads. The festival also hosts numerousbeer gardens, live music, fairground attractions and aFerris wheel.
There are several clubs with live music once or twice a week. There is also astudent club in the city centre which also features disco and live music events on Friday- and Saturday nights (Kasseturm). There are several smaller theatre and cabaret venues other than the large "DNT" (Deutsches National Theater). There are four cinemas including a 3-D cinema,[24] and a Bowling Alley[25] in the Weimar Atrium, the local mall.
The area around Weimar is relatively fertile and 48% of the municipal surface are used for agricultural production. Most common agricultures are cereals,maize andrapeseed, while famous agricultural products from the Weimar region are potatoes (especially fromHeichelheim, 7 km (4.3 mi) to the north) for dishes withThuringian dumplings (Knödel from potatoes), onions (fromHeldrungen andOldisleben, 45 km (28 mi) to the north), which are sold at Weimar Onion Market in October, andSaale-Unstrut wine fromBad Sulza, 25 km (16 mi) to the north-east.
Industry has never been dominant in Weimar, nevertheless there were several big factories from different sectors until 1990. After reunification, nearly all factories got closed, either because they failed the adoption of free market economy or because the German government sold them to west German businessmen who closed them to avoid competition to their own enterprises.[citation needed] On the other hand, the federal government started early in the 1990s to subsidize the foundation of new companies, but it took long time before the economic situation got stabilized around 2006. Since this time, unemployment decreased and overall, new jobs develop. Today, there are many small and medium-sized companies in Weimar with electro-technics and engineering in focus. Nevertheless, settlement of new factories isn't much in focus of the local government, because it concentrates itself on developing tourism and services.[citation needed] The biggest companies with production in Weimar areBayer (pharmaceutical factory),Coca-Cola (beverages) andHydrema (dump truck factory). A new big commercial zone was established in the 1990s in the neighbouring municipality ofNohra with focus on logistics and distribution.
Due to its tradition as a capital, Weimar is a centre of governmental services to date. Furthermore, creative branches like media, advertising, architecture and design are important for Weimar's economy. The most important sector is tourism with 3,500 hotel beds, 350,000 visitors and 650,000 overnight stays in hotels in 2012 and a large number of German one-day visitors. Other services like retail, trade fairs and specialized hospitals are more brought by the near neighbour cities Erfurt and Jena with their infrastructure.
In freight transport exists anintermodal terminal in Vieselbach(Güterverkehrszentrum/GVZ) with connection to rail and Autobahn, 15 km (9.3 mi) west of Weimar.
Weimar is located at theBundesautobahn 4 (Frankfurt–Dresden). Furthermore, there are two federal roads to Erfurt and Jena (Bundesstraße 7) and toRudolstadt andKölleda (Bundesstraße 85) as well as some regional roads toSömmerda,Oßmannstedt andMagdala. A bypass road around Weimar was built in the 2000s in the north and west; the eastern and southern continuation are in discussion, but not in definite planning because of some difficulties in routing.
TheErfurt-Weimar Airport lies approximately 30 km (19 mi) west of Weimar. It was largely extended in the 1990s, but the anticipated rise in passengers did not occur so that there is only rare air traffic, mostly to Mediterranean holiday regions. Other flights are carried out viaFrankfurt Airport, which can be reached in 3 hours, and viaBerlin Brandenburg Airport, which is also about 3 hours away.
Biking is becoming more popular since the construction of quality cycle tracks began in the 1990s. For tourism, there are theIlm track and theThuringian city string track (Radweg Thüringer Städtekette). Both connect points of tourist interest, the first along theIlm valley from theThuringian Forest to theSaale river and the second close to medievalVia Regia fromEisenach viaGotha,Erfurt, Weimar, andJena toAltenburg. Additionally, there are themed routes like the Goethe cycle track and the Feininger cycle track. For inner city everyday traffic, some cycle lanes exist along several main streets. Bike rental is offered in the city centre.
For a small city, Weimar is well served by city bus routes, which also serve all of the surrounding towns and villages. An hourly bus route serves the Buchenwald Memorial andoldtimer buses operate in the city's historical centre. All bus routes are connected at Goethe Square in the city centre, and many also serve the main railway station.Trams served the city from 1899 to 1937.Trolleybus service started in 1948 and was discontinued in 1993.[26]
After the reunification, the educational system was realigned. Some academies were combined into the newBauhaus University, founded in 1996 with approximately 4,200 students and focus on architecture, design and media. TheLiszt School of Music is a university focussed on music and music education founded in 1872 with 850 students today. Furthermore, there are three regularGymnasiums, theMusikgymnasium Schloss Belvedere, an elite boarding school with focus on music, and the Thuringia International School with an international (and foreign language) curriculum.
The most important archives in Weimar are theGoethe- und Schiller-Archiv (member of UNESCOMemory of the World Programme) with focus on German literary history and the Thuringia Main State Archive with governmental documents from last 500 years. TheDuchess Anna Amalia Library hosts books and documents of German literary and cultural history.
^ab"Classical Weimar".UNESCO World Heritage Centre. United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization.Archived from the original on 29 July 2022. Retrieved29 July 2022.
^Gitta Günther, Wolfram Huschke, and Walter Steiner,Weimar (Böhlau, 1993), p. 494.
^Sturm, Reinhard (23 December 2011)."Weimarer Republik: Vom Kaiserreich zur Republik 1918/19" [Weimar Republic: From Empire to Republic 1918/19].Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung (in German).Archived from the original on 16 February 2022. Retrieved17 June 2013.
^Bartel, Walter:Buchenwald—Mahnung und Verpflichtung: Dokumente und Berichte (Buchenwald: Warnings and our obligation [to future generations]—Documents and reports), Kongress-Verlag, 1960. p. 87, line 8.(in German)
^Victor, Edward (2001)."Buchenwald".www.edwardvictor.com.Archived from the original on 27 December 2022. Retrieved31 May 2023.
^Stanton, Shelby,World War II Order of Battle: An Encyclopedic Reference to U.S. Army Ground Forces from Battalion through Division, 1939–1946, Stackpole Books (Revised Edition 2006), p. 150
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