Weimar is a small city with a very large place in German culture. Goethe and Schiller lived and worked here, Liszt composed and taught, Nietzsche spent his last years here, and in 1919 the national assembly that created Germany's first democratic constitution met in the theatre, giving the Weimar Republic its name. That same year, the architect Walter Gropius founded a new art school in the city, merging the academy of fine arts with the school of applied arts, and called it the Bauhaus. The school building designed earlier by the Belgian architect Henry van de Velde, along with the main building of the art academy, became its home. These buildings, together with the Haus am Horn, are part of the UNESCO serial site of the Bauhaus and its sites, inscribed in 1996.
The van de Velde building is a fine example of early modernism, with large windows, clean lines and touches of Art Nouveau, and it is still used by the Bauhaus University. The Bauhaus itself stayed in Weimar only until 1925, when it moved to Dessau under pressure from conservative politicians, but its ideas about design, architecture and craft spread worldwide. The Bauhaus Museum in Weimar presents its history, and the city also has the Goethe House, the Schiller House, the Duchess Anna Amalia Library and much more.
For riders, Weimar is a compact city with cobbled streets in the old town and limited parking, so it is best to leave the bike on the edge of the centre and walk. The surroundings offer gentle riding through the Ilm valley, with small villages, parks and castles, and the Thuringian Forest, about an hour to the south, has some of the best motorcycle roads in central Germany, with winding climbs through dense forests. The Buchenwald concentration camp memorial, on the Ettersberg hill just north of the city, is a sobering visit and an essential part of understanding Weimar's history.
Weimar has fuel, food and accommodation, as you would expect of a city of over sixty thousand people. Try a Thuringian bratwurst, grilled over charcoal and served in a roll with mustard, or the local dumplings. Walk past the van de Velde building, visit the Bauhaus Museum, and then wander through the park on the Ilm to Goethe's garden house. It is a city where culture is everywhere, and the Bauhaus is only one chapter.