Weimar--The German Major's Dream

After the French excursion, it was time to explore the home country a bit more. The first stop was pretty obvious. As any German student will tell you, Weimar is probably one of the most important places in terms of German cultural, literary, and political history. It was a long train trip, so we had to move fast if we wanted to see what shaped Germany in a day.



We decided that Buchenwald, the largest work camp during World War II, was a must-see. But we had to get it done before dark because, let's be honest, creepy. The camp was mostly destroyed when it was liberated, but there is a fantastic museum and lots of informational markers and memorials on the site. It's extremely difficult to articulate the emotional upheaval of visiting this place, and I won't try to do so here. As someone who had spent several years learning about the Holocaust, it was a valuable and important opportunity to actually see its remnants.

Where the barracks stood

The Goethe oak tree

"To each his own"--takes on kind of a different meaning here

We came back into the city and began a whirlwind tour of some of Germany's most famous history. Here's the national theater.

Oh, yeah, and the Goethe and Schiller memorial. Kind of a big deal.

German literature's finest

And then you turn around and see the Bauhaus Museum.

Schiller's house

And Goethe's house. I wonder if there is significance in the fact that they are both yellow?

Dramatic Goethe moment

That went by quickly. Check the watch. Yup, we just did Weimar in forty minutes. Ballin'.