Things to do in Weimar, Thuringia: The Best Specialty Museums

Franz Liszt lived in the former court gardener’s house at the edge of the Park on the Ilm from 1869 until his death in 1886. This is where he gave lessons to many young and talented pianists from Germany and abroad. In 1887 Grand Duke Carl Alexander opened several rooms to the public as a memorial site. All the furnishings in the music salon and study are authentic, including the Bechstein grand piano.

The Baroque palatial residence in the centre of Weimar was home to the dowager Duchess Anna Amalia of Saxony-Weimar and Eisenach for many years until 1807. This is where she held her famous social gatherings. The Duchess’s former parlour with its original furnishings is among the most authentic rooms in the mansion that best reflects domestic culture around 1800.

Before he passed away in 1805, Friedrich Schiller spent his last three years at this residence on Esplanade where he wrote his famous plays “The Bride of Messina” and “William Tell”. Today, Schiller’s original desk and bed are displayed in his former living quarters.

The Weimar Republic existed from 1918 to 1933 and was Germany’s first democracy. It emerged after World War I in utterly desolate circumstances yet offered hope and brought progress. Much of what we take for granted today was created during those years. Yet the foes of the democracy fought it in every way they could, which led to its destruction in the end, in 1933. The modern and multimedia House of the Weimar Republic tells this story and demonstrates how relevant the Weimar Republic is for today’s world. While connecting the Weimar era to the 21st century, it serves as a Forum for Democracy, providing room for exhibitions, research, and education. Moreover, the House is located authentically in Weimar, the city that gave birth to the first German democracy.

This former vineyard house in the Park on the Ilm was Goethe’s first residence in Weimar in 1776. This is where he wrote the ballad of the “Erlkönig” and the poem “To the Moon”. The cottage, furnished with original pieces of furniture such as the high desk and sitting trestle, was an important retreat for Goethe in his later years.