Going to Weimar is obvious for any German teacher, especially if you specialized in the classics. But it´s also a hotspot for any culture lover, foodie or if you´re looking at a 2-hour travelling limit from your home base in Lutherstadt Wittenberg. On the map we considered visiting Jena and Erfurt on the way but decided to stick to our first choice only – mainly due to time constraints of just one Ascension holiday to play with. So, after Borna and Altenburg we went for Weimar: Home of Goethe, Schiller, Wieland, Bach, Liszt, Cranach sr, Nietzsche to mention but a few of the celebrities and notabilities, who made this town special.

They were appreciated, attracted and called by the noble patrons of their time like for instance Duchess Anna Amalia of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel or her son Karl August – Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, who both left deep marks, impressive buildings and pretty sights in this lovely town pretty much in central Thuringia.  And then I´ve not even touched on the famous hunting dogs from here.

Due to the special times we got to stay right in the middle of town within walking distance of famous landmarks like the church of St. Peter and Paul (Herder´s church), museums and libraries, cemetries, parks and walkways. Here the first German democratic constitution was proclaimed after the 1^st World War and in most restaurants, you get info about who´s who who ate what when right at this very place like at the Sächsischer Hof, zum Siechenbräu, zum Weißen Schwan or Zur Scharfen Ecke. That includes illustrious people like the emperor of Japan in recent years right to Martin Luther himself in days long gone.

We stayed 2 nights and crisscrossed the place in search of famous graves, mysterious rendezvous, pulpits, literary desks and flowery gardens amidst grand villas and impressive statues.

The people were most hospitable, friendly and outgoing – very eager to make us feel very much at home, which we did from the word go. This really is a special place and a wonderful stop-over. I´ve got a number of sights, scenes and incidents, which I will share here in due time. For now, I remember this university locality most fondly and highly recommend it for any tourist, student or traveler. It´s very high on my most favorite list – and then I´ve not even touched on Stutterheim (Luther´s conversion) and Buchenwald KZ. We´ll get to those later too d.v. – and if I don´t forget or get lost in reading these classics rather.