Sept. 18, 2010

The main event today, besides the amazing bratwurst we had for lunch and from the street, was the Goethe museum. Goethe is a huge part of German history. Besides being a major poet who wrote “Faust” he is also responsible for bringing many people to Weimar. In his house, which is now a museum, we wandered the corridors each clutching an ipod in our hands, listening to a recording of a British man tell us the history of the house we were slowly touring. The most amazing thing out of the entire museum, in my humble opinion, was Goethe’s library. Thousands and thousands of books! There is no doubt that he had read all of them. The fact was that observers could only see the front corner of the room. There was much more to be seen, but it was blocked by an iron gate. I was amazed that there still were many of the books there and not fake “stand ins” so to say. I wished that I could be allowed in there, Goethe’s library. I would have loved to finger through his books and look at the notes he may have left in the margins of his own copy of the countless works that he had collected. That would be amazing. (Above is a picture of a monumental statue of Schiller and Goethe).

After the museum we toured downtown Weimar. So many amazing and famous historical figures have been to Weimar! No wonder that it is called the “Athens” of Germany. Hans Christian Anderson was in Weimar for a time. Maybe in his visit he thought up some ideas for the Little Mermaid or the Little Matchbox Girl. Maybe not. Bach was in Weimar for a few years. To the left is a picture of me with a bust of Bach himself. Across the street was a plaque of where the house he staid at once stood. I wonder what songs he composed while he was there. It felt amazing to be somewhere where he himself once stood, long ago. We continued walking and were shown the Liszt Music School and where an old Gestapo prison used to stand. To the right is a picture of our group, including Doctor Anderson, outside of the prison memorial. Before it was a prison it was the castle’s stables. In the time of WWII however, the Gestapo's used it as a gathering place for Thuringian Jews before they sent them to concentration camps. Usually the Jews  were sent to Buchenwald. After the war the area was a county court prison. 

But within the last 15 years it was all demolished and is now a memorial for all to see and read about. Weimar was also a major palce during the Third Reich and had it’s own Parade grounds where Nazi Soldiers once marched by saluting Hitler while he stood in front of the Zum Schwarzen Bären. The Zum Schwarzen Bären or “Black Bear Inn” in English, is the oldest pub and restaurant in Weimar, it was established in 1540. No doubt that Bach himself ate there with friends. Here to the left is the Pub. Further down the road just to the left of the pub is the “Hotel Elephant” which has a balcony with memorial statues of two figures who once stood there during the parade of Hitler’s Third Reich.