Having studied Goethe intensively for a year at university, Weimar had long since been on my list of places to visit in Germany. Finally realising a trip to the famous city was somewhat of a dream for me, especially finally visiting Goethe’s house after having watched a detailed video tour of it last year in class.

It’s really rather amazing to comprehend all of the culture and history and importance that such a small place holds: thanks to Goethe and Schiller Weimar was the centre of the German Enlightenment, it was the founding town of the Bauhaus design movement, and it was where the democratic constitution of the Weimar Republic was signed after WWI. It’s also quite simply a beautiful city to discover and explore, and I’m so glad that I managed to squeeze in a visit during my last few weeks in Germany.

From the photos below, I probably don’t need to explain too much why the Duchess Anna Amalia Library was my favourite place, especially since so much care and interest has been taken to restore it after a devastating fire in 2004. It’s home to over a million books and it was really just a literary dream. Other highlights naturally include seeing both of Goethe’s house, summer and town, and a quick trip to the Buchenwald Concentration Camp a few miles ago – certainly a chilling and uncomfortable afternoon, but nonetheless indescribably important. I spent the weekend cursing the horrible weather, but somehow in Buchenwald it felt quite apt.