Germany, UNESCO site:Classical Weimar;

Thank you Melanie!

Classical Weimar

UNESCO site
Date of Insscription: 1998

In the late 18th and early 19th century the small Thuringian town of Weimar witnessed a remarkable cultural flowering, attracting many writers and scholars, notably Goethe (1749-1832) and Schiller (1759-1805). This development is reflected in the high quality of many buildings and parks in the surrounding area.

It was in the lifetime of Duchess Anna Amalia (1739-1809) that Weimar’s Classical period began. She appointed the poet Christoph Martin Wieland (1733-1813) as tutor to her sons in 1772. It was after Carl August (1757-1828) had succeeded to the Duchy that Johann Wolfgang Goethe settled in the town (1775). Johann Gottfried Herder (1744-1803) came to Weimar in the following year. The high point of the town's cultural influence resulted from the creative relationship between Goethe and Friedrich Schiller that began in 1794 and was intensified when Schiller moved to Weimar in 1799.

The World Heritage properties comprises twelve separate buildings or ensembles: Goethe's House and Goethe´s Garden and Garden House; Schiller's House; Herder Church, Herder House and Old High School; Residence Castle and Ensemble Bastille; Dowager's Palace (Wittumspalais); Duchess Anna Amalia Library; Park on the Ilm with the Roman House; Belvedere Castle and Park with Orangery; Ettersburg Castle and Park; Tiefurt Castle and Park; and Historic Cemetery with Princes´ Tomb.

Criterion (iii): The high artistic quality of the public and private buildings and parks in and around the town testify to the remarkable cultural flowering of the Weimar Classical Period.

Criterion (vi): Enlightened ducal patronage attracted many of the leading writers and thinkers in Germany, such as Goethe, Schiller, and Herder to Weimar in the late 18th and early 19th century, making it the cultural centre of the Europe of the day.

Source: unesco.org