Museums in Weimar
To visit every museum in Weimar takes a long time. In a city of 65,000 inhabitants we have more than 20 museums; small ones like the umbrella museum, and large ones like the painting gallery in the Castle. It’s always worth visiting a permanent exhibition or actual installations in one of the numerous museums. These are the most important museums:
Goethehaus
Goethe’s residence in the town was built in 1709 in the Baroque style. Goethe lived there from 1782 to 1789 as a tenant, then from 1792 to 1832 as the owner. The poet planned the form and furnishing of the rooms as well as its rich collections, e.g. in the Juno Room.
Duchess Anna Amalia Library
Anna Amalia had the ‘Green Palace’ turned into a library comprising a unique collection of books, an art collection and architecture. The Rococo Reading Room is especially famous. After the library was devastated by a fire in September 2004, it was reopened in December 2007 as the jewel of Weimar’s museums.
Schillerhaus
Friedrich Schiller spent the last three years of his life in this townhouse on the former Weimar Esplanade. Still containing some of the original furnishings, it reflects the style prevalent in Schiller’s day.
Bauhaus Museum
The Bauhaus Museum Weimar with its exhibition of more than 300 objects offers insights into the development of the State Bauhaus School in the place in which it was founded, namely in Weimar.
Goethe Gartenhaus
Bought for Goethe by the Duke, the poet lived in his garden house until he moved to the house on Frauenplan. A place of refuge for Goethe, after his death it became a shrine for his admirers.
Nietzsche Archives
A sick Friedrich Nietzsche spent the last seven years of his life at Villa Silberblick. After his death, his sister established the Nietzsche Archives. The house has become the shrine of the Nietzsche community.
Neues Museum Weimar
This prestigious neo-Renaissance building was formerly the Grand Ducal Museum but is now the home of the Museum of Contemporary Art. The celebrated artists Daniel Buren and Sol Le Witt were involved in its elaborate refurbishment.
Wittumspalais
After a fire in the town palace, the Wittumspalais was turned into the dowager residence of the Duchess Anna Amalia. The two-winged building is an important document of noble interior design in Weimar.
Liszt Museum
In the summer months from 1869 until 1886, Franz Liszt stayed in the former Court Market Garden at the entrance to the park and gave piano lessons to his international students. The Museum was completely reconditioned in 2006 by students of the “Franz Liszt” Music Conservatory and students of the Bauhaus University. Beside Liszt’s dwelling, there is also a complete new exhibition on the ground floor.
Römisches Haus
The product of Goethe’s activities as a landscape gardener, the Roman House is the first classicist building in Weimar. Goethe oversaw the construction work for this temple-like edifice built in the Doric style.