1.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
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Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer and statesman. In addition, numerous literary and scientific fragments, more than 10,000 letters and he was an early participant in the Sturm und Drang literary movement. He also contributed to the planning of Weimars botanical park and the rebuilding of its Ducal Palace and his first major scientific work, the Metamorphosis of Plants, was published after he returned from a 1788 tour of Italy. During this period, Goethe published his novel, Wilhelm Meisters Apprenticeship, the verse epic Hermann and Dorothea, and, in 1808. Goethes comments and observations form the basis of several biographical works, Goethes father, Johann Caspar Goethe, lived with his family in a large house in Frankfurt, then an Imperial Free City of the Holy Roman Empire. Though he had studied law in Leipzig and had been appointed Imperial Councillor, Johann Caspar married Goethes mother, Catharina Elizabeth Textor at Frankfurt on 20 August 1748, when he was 38 and she was 17. All their children, with the exception of Johann Wolfgang and his sister, Cornelia Friederica Christiana and his father and private tutors gave Goethe lessons in all the common subjects of their time, especially languages. Goethe also received lessons in dancing, riding and fencing, Johann Caspar, feeling frustrated in his own ambitions, was determined that his children should have all those advantages that he had not. Although Goethes great passion was drawing, he became interested in literature, Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock. He also took pleasure in reading works on history and religion. He writes about this period, Goethe became also acquainted with Frankfurt actors, among early literary attempts, he was infatuated with Gretchen, who would later reappear in his Faust and the adventures with whom he would concisely describe in Dichtung und Wahrheit. He adored Caritas Meixner, a wealthy Worms traders daughter and friend of his sister, Goethe studied law at Leipzig University from 1765 to 1768. He detested learning age-old judicial rules by heart, preferring instead to attend the lessons of Christian Fürchtegott Gellert. In Leipzig, Goethe fell in love with Anna Katharina Schönkopf, in 1770, he anonymously released Annette, his first collection of poems. His uncritical admiration for many contemporary poets vanished as he became interested in Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, already at this time, Goethe wrote a good deal, but he threw away nearly all of these works, except for the comedy Die Mitschuldigen. The restaurant Auerbachs Keller and its legend of Fausts 1525 barrel ride impressed him so much that Auerbachs Keller became the real place in his closet drama Faust Part One. As his studies did not progress, Goethe was forced to return to Frankfurt at the close of August 1768, Goethe became severely ill in Frankfurt. During the year and a half that followed, because of several relapses, during convalescence, Goethe was nursed by his mother and sister
2.
Eisenach
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Eisenach is a town in Thuringia, Germany with 42,000 inhabitants, located 50 kilometres west of Erfurt,70 km southeast of Kassel and 150 km northeast of Frankfurt. It is the urban centre of western Thuringia and bordering northeastern Hessian regions. A major attraction is Wartburg castle, which has been a UNESCO world heritage site since 1999, Eisenach was an early capital of Thuringia in the 12th and 13th centuries. St. Elizabeth lived at the court of the Ludowingians here between 1211 and 1228, later, Martin Luther came to Eisenach and translated the Bible into German. In 1685, Johann Sebastian Bach was born here, during the early-modern period, Eisenach was a residence of the Ernestine Wettins and was visited by numerous representatives of Weimar classicism like Johann Wolfgang Goethe. In 1869, the SDAP, one of the two precursors of the Social Democratic Party of Germany was founded in Eisenach, car production is an important industry in Eisenach. The Automobilwerk Eisenach was founded in 1896, in the German Democratic Republic, the Wartburg was produced here. Eisenach is situated on the Hörsel river, a tributary of the Werra between the Thuringian Forest in the south, the Hainich mountains in the north-east and the East Hesse Highlands in the north-west, Eisenachs origin and early history is unknown. An 8th century Frankish settlement near Petersberg hill is regarded as the nucleus of Eisenach, however, there are no written sources about that early period. According to legend, Louis the Springer began in 1067 to establish Wartburg castle above the settlement, in 1080, the castle was first mentioned in a Saxon chronicle. Eisenach itself followed in a document dating to 1150 where it was referred to as Isinacha, during the 1180s, the town was established by the construction of three independent market settlements around the Saturdays market, the Wednesdays market and the Mondays market. During the second half of the 12th century, the walls were erected and Eisenach got a planned grid of streets. In 1207, the legendary Sängerkrieg supposedly took place at Wartburg castle, in 1221, St. Elizabeth married Landgrave Louis IV and she lived in Eisenach or at Wartburg castle until 1228. Later, she became the patroness of Thuringia and Hesse, in 1247, the Ludowingians died out which led to the War of the Thuringian Succession between the Wettins and Duchess Sophie of Brabant. As a consequence, the landgraviate was divided, Eisenach and the eastern parts went to the Wettins and Kassel, Marburg and the western parts went to Sophie. Eisenach kept a position among the Wettins Thuringian cities by becoming their Oberhof, so that their law had to be derived from Eisenachs municipal law. The confident citizens of Eisenach fought against the Wettins rule to become an imperial city between 1306 and 1308, but lost. In the 14th century various crises followed, in 1342, a big fire destroyed all the buildings
3.
Saxe-Weimar
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Saxe-Weimar was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine branch of the Wettin dynasty in present-day Thuringia. The chief town and capital was Weimar, the Weimar branch was the most genealogically senior extant branch of the House of Wettin. In the late 15th century much of what is now Thuringia, nevertheless, according to the 1552 Peace of Passau he was pardoned and allowed to retain his lands in Thuringia. Upon his death in 1554, his son John Frederick II succeeded him as Duke of Saxony, residing at Gotha. John Frederick II was succeeded by his younger brother John William at Weimar, in 1572 Maximilian II enforced the Division of Erfurt, whereby the Ernestine lands were divided among Duke John William and the two surviving sons of imprisoned John Frederick II. John William retained the Duchy of Saxe-Weimar, while his minor nephews received the southern and western territories around Coburg, as a result, the Duchy of Saxe-Weimar shrank and grew more than once. The Thuringian states throughout this period consisted of several non-contiguous parcels of territory of various sizes. Facing their lack of power, the rulers of these petty states built up splendid monarchical households at their residences. Duke John William, chafing under the loss, died in 1573, upon his death in 1602 Saxe-Weimar was again divided among his younger brother John II and Frederick Williams minor son John Philipp, who received the territory of Saxe-Altenburg. Johns son Duke Johann Ernst I of Saxe-Weimar on occasion of the burial of his mother Dorothea Maria of Anhalt in 1617 established the literary Fruitbearing Society. Stripped of his title by Emperor Ferdinand II, he remained an opponent of the Catholic Habsburg dynasty. His younger brother Wilhelm, regent since 1620, assumed the dignities upon his death, nevertheless, like many German estates, the Weimar lands were devastated by combat actions as well as by plague epidemics. When in 1638 the Ernestine Saxe-Eisenach and Saxe-Coburg branch became extinct upon the death of Duke John Ernest, upon the death of John Georges descendant Wilhelm Heinrich in 1741, Duke Ernest Augustus I of Saxe-Weimar also inherited the Duchy of Saxe-Eisenach. He then ruled both duchies in personal union and decisively forwarded the development of his estates by the implementation of the primogeniture principle. The regency of energetic Anna Amalia and the reign of Charles Augustus, in 1804 Duke Charles Augustus entered into European politics by marrying his son and heir Charles Frederick to Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna, sister of Emperor Alexander I of Russia. In 1809 Saxe-Weimar and Saxe-Eisenach, which had been united only in the person of the duke, were merged into the Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. Saxe-Weimar, The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, Columbia University Press, accessed December 22,2005 German genealogies Genealogy of Dukes of Saxe-Weimar
4.
Landgravine Caroline Louise of Hesse-Darmstadt
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Caroline Louise of Hesse-Darmstadt, was a consort of Baden, a dilettante artist, scientist, collector and salonist. The daughter of Louis VIII of Hesse-Darmstadt and Charlotte Christine Magdalene Johanna of Hanau, she married on January 28,1751 to Charles Frederick, Margrave of Baden. She was a member of Markgräflich Baden court orchestra and the Danish Academy of Fine Arts, draw, carl von Linné named Glückskastanie Carolinea Princeps L. after her, and Friedrich Wilhelm von Leysser was hired to gather plants for her. She supported herself and managed a soap- and candle-factory and her health was ruined by a fall in 1779, and she died by a stroke during a trip with her son. Her collections were the foundation of the Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe and the State Museum of Natural History Karlsruhe, Charles Louis, Hereditary Prince of Baden. Charles Louiss son, Charles Louis Frederick, succeeded Charles Frederick as Grand Duke upon the death in 1811. Louis succeeded his nephew Charles Louis Frederick as 3rd Grand Duke in 1818
5.
Weimar
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Weimar is a city in the federal state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately 80 kilometres southwest of Leipzig,170 kilometres north of Nuremberg and 170 kilometres west of Dresden. Together with the neighbour-cities Erfurt and Jena it forms the metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 inhabitants. Weimar is well known because of its cultural heritage and its importance in German history. The city was a point of the German Enlightenment and home of the leading characters of the literary genre of Weimar Classicism. Until 1948, Weimar was the capital of Thuringia, today, many places in the city centre have been designated as UNESCO World Heritage sites and tourism is one of the leading economic sectors of Weimar. Relevant institutions in Weimar are the Bauhaus University, the Liszt School of Music, in 1999, Weimar was the European Capital of Culture. Archaeological finds dating back to the Thuringii epoch show that the Weimar part of the Ilm valley was settled early, the oldest records regarding Weimar date to 899. Its name changed over the centuries from Wimares through Wimari to Wimar and finally Weimar, it is derived from Old High German wīh-, another theory derives the first element from OHG win. The place was the seat of the County of Weimar, first mentioned in 949, in 1062 it was united with the County of Orlamünde to the new County of Weimar-Orlamünde, which existed until the Thuringian Counts War in 1346 and fell to the Wettins afterwards. The Weimar settlement emerged around the wooden castle and two small churches dedicated to St Peter, and to St James. In 1240, the count founded the monastery in Oberweimar. Soon after, the counts of Weimar founded the town, which was an independent parish since 1249, from 1262 the citizens used their own seal. Nevertheless, the influence of the Weimar counts was declining as the influence of the Wettins in Thuringia increased. Hence, the new town was relatively marginal in a regional context. The settlement around St James Church developed into a suburb during the 13th century, after becoming part of the Wettins territory in 1346, urban development improved. The Wettins fostered Weimar by abolishing socage and granting privileges to the citizens, now Weimar became equal to other Wettinian cities like Weißensee and grew during the 15th century, with the establishment of a town hall and the current main church. Weimar acquired woad trade privileges in 1438, the castle and the walls were finished in the 16th century, making Weimar into a full city
6.
Tiefurt House
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Tiefurt House is a small stately home on the Ilm river in the Tiefurt quarter of Weimar, about 4km east of the city centre. It was the residence of duchess Anna Amalia of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. The house originated at the end of the 16th century as the house of a ducal estate. It consists of a building, with an upper floor of 7 rooms. Charles Augustus granted it to his brother Constantine for his own court, four years later their mother selected it as her summer seat during a long absence of the prince. She and her two servants occupied the floor, with her courtier, Luise von Göchhausen, in the auxiliary building. For around 25 years the castle was Anna Amalias favourite residence, on the duchesss death in 1807 the building became neglected, though Charles Augustuss son Charles Frederick began renovation work within Goethes lifetime. In 1907 it opened to the public as a museum, and from 1978 to 1981 it was restored to its 1800 decor, on the nearby meadow was a landscape garden in the English style, also open to the public. Schiller is buried in the burial chamber in the grounds. The well-known landscape gardener Eduard Petzold was put in charge of the gardens during the 19th-century renovations
7.
Karl August, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
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He is noted for the intellectual brilliance of his court. Born in Weimar, he was the eldest son of Ernst August II, Duke of Saxe-Weimar and Saxe-Eisenach and his father died when he was only nine months old, and the boy was brought up under the regency and supervision of his mother. His governor was the Count Johann Eustach von Görtz and in 1771, at Frankfurt, Knebel introduced Karl August to the young Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. In Karlsruhe on 3 October 1775, after he returned to Weimar and assumed the government of his duchy, Karl August married Luise Auguste, daughter of Louis IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt. One of the first acts of the duke was to summon Goethe to Weimar. “People of discernment, ” the duke said, “congratulate me on possessing this man and his intellect, his genius is known. ”The Weimaraner, a breed of gun dog is said to have been developed by August and his court for hunting. Karl August was also interested in literature, in art, in science, funding Goethe, critics praised his judgment in painting, biologists found in him an expert in anatomy. To this end Herder was summoned to Weimar to reform the educational system, Weimar became the intellectual centre of Germany. Meanwhile, in the affairs of Germany and of Europe the character of Karl August gave him an out of all proportion to his position as a sovereign prince. He had early faced the problem presented by the decay of the Holy Roman Empire, in 1788 Karl August took service in the Prussian army as major-general in active command of a regiment. As such he was present, with Goethe, at the Battle of Valmy in 1792, and in 1794 at the Siege of Mainz and the Battle of Pirmasenz and Kaiserslautern. After this, dissatisfied with the attitude of the powers, he resigned, the disastrous campaign of Jena followed. On 14 October, the day after the battle, Weimar was sacked, from this time till after the Moscow campaign of 1812 his contingent fought on the French side in all Napoleons wars. In 1813, however, he joined the Sixth Coalition, the grand duke was compelled to yield to the remonstrances of Prussia, Austria and Russia. Karl August died at Graditz, near Torgau, in 1828 and he was inspired by the noblest good-will, the purest humanity, and with his whole soul desired only what was best. There was in him something of the divine and he would gladly have wrought the happiness of all mankind. And finally, he was greater than his surroundings, everywhere he himself saw and judged, and in all circumstances his surest foundation was in himself. ”Karl Augusts correspondence with Goethe was published in 2 vols. at Weimar in 1863. Bernhards son, William Augustus Edward, known as Prince Edward of Saxe-Weimar, entered the British army, Karl August and Luise Auguste had seven children, Luise Auguste Amalie
8.
Goethe's Faust
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Johann Wolfgang von Goethes Faust is a tragic play in two parts usually known in English as Faust, Part One and Faust, Part Two. Although rarely staged in its entirety, it is the play with the largest audience numbers on German-language stages, Faust is considered by many to be Goethes magnum opus and the greatest work of German literature. The earliest forms of the work, known as the Urfaust, were developed between 1772 and 1775, however, the details of development are not entirely clear. Urfaust has twenty-two scenes, one in prose, two largely prose and the remaining 1,441 lines in rhymed verse, the manuscript is lost, but a copy was discovered in 1886. The first appearance of the work in print was Faust, a Fragment, Goethe completed a preliminary version of what is now known as Part One in 1806. Its publication in 1808 was followed by the revised 1828–29 edition, Goethe finished writing Faust Part Two in 1831. The second part formed the occupation of Goethes last years. It appeared only posthumously in 1832, the original 1808 German title page of Goethes play read simply, Faust. The addition of erster Teil was only retrospectively applied by publishers when the sequel was published in 1832 with a page which read. The two plays have been published in English under a number of titles, and are most usually referred to as Faust Parts One and Two. Mephistopheles makes a bet with God, he says that he can lure Gods favourite human being, the next scene takes place in Fausts study where Faust, despairing at the vanity of scientific, humanitarian and religious learning, turns to magic for the showering of infinite knowledge. He suspects, however, that his attempts are failing, frustrated, he ponders suicide, but rejects it as he hears the echo of nearby Easter celebrations begin. He goes for a walk with his assistant Wagner and is followed home by a stray poodle, in Fausts study, the poodle transforms into the devil. Faust makes an arrangement with the devil, the devil will do everything that Faust wants while he is here on Earth, and in exchange Faust will serve the devil in Hell. Fausts arrangement is that if he is pleased enough with anything the devil gives him that he wants to stay in that moment forever, when the devil tells Faust to sign the pact with blood, Faust complains that the devil does not trust Fausts word of honor. In the end, Mephistopheles wins the argument and Faust signs the contract with a drop of his own blood, Faust has a few excursions and then meets Margaret. He is attracted to her and with jewellery and with help from a neighbor, Martha, with influence from the devil, Faust seduces Gretchen. Gretchens mother dies from a potion, administered by Gretchen to obtain privacy so that Faust could visit her
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