Enjoy an unforgettable tour of Weimar with a friendly personal guide from ToursByLocals. Explore the beauty of Nordland County and its hidden treasures with a passionate private guide.

A short trip to the city of Jena and you'll discover its fascinating history and striking Bauhaus-style architecture.

Admire the simplicity in their design and visit The Bauhaus, an art school founded in 1919 by architect Walter Gropius.

Go back to the Battle of Jena-Auerstedt in 1806 and re-trace the steps of Napoléon and his army. Embrace the stunning views of the city from JenTower or visit the old monastery dating back to the 13th Century.

A flexible schedule and itinerary, your local guide will give you an all round authentic experience. Your ToursByLocals guide can customize an itinerary to make it a truly tailored experience.

Weimar

Weimar - the town of aesthetes, musicians and an historic atmosphere

You cannot discover Weimar without getting deeper in the époque of Classism. Feel the spirit of their most important representatives while standing in front of the Goethe- and the Schiller House. Learn about the significance of their contemporaries. What was the role of the ducal family in this process, and where is their castle? I will show you.
Two generations later Weimar became well known for musicians including Franz Liszt and Nepomuk Hummel.
One hundred years ago, Henry van de Velde and Walter Gropius wrote architectural history in this cosy little town. I will tell you why particularly there.
This terrific development of a tiny spot in the middle of the Federal State of Thuringia started much earlier with the reformation of the Christian Church triggered by Martin Luther. Get to know this story while seeing Herder's Church with its beautiful altarpiece by Lucas Cranach and imagine Johann Sebastian Bach playing the organ in this holy room.

park by the River Ilm with Goethe's Garden Cottage in the background

Lift the secret around this former residential town and its numerous celebrities on a half-day walking tour with me!

Weimar: a small town with a big history - Top UNESCO Heritage attractions

Since Goethe moved here in the late 18th century, this small city has became a site of pilgrimage for the German luminaries. From its charming squares to stylish museums, Weimar is worth putting on your list to visit. In the 20th century, Weimar was the cradle of the Bauhaus movement, which created a revolution in art, design, and architecture. It also spawned Weimar Classicism, a humanistic cultural movement. In addition, the list of former Weimar residents reads like the "who's who" of German literature, music, art, and philosophy: Bach, Wagner, Schiller, Kandinsky, Nietzsche all lived and worked here. In 3 hours you will have a global vision of the historical, cultural and sociological aspect of this city, I will explain to you the importance of this city in the eyes of the Germans. My 25 years of expatriation have given me a sense of observation. I will also share with you my own experience of life here, the local uses and customs and my cohabitation with a population marked by both Nazism and Communism.

The onion festival the event of the year taking place mid of October that has been around for over 350 years!

Weimar - the city of 30 historical fountains

Weimar main pedestrian street "Schillerstrasse"

The Duchess Anna Amalia Library - One of the most beautiful library in Europe in rococo style

The ruin of the Tempel house in the middle of the Goethe park

View of market square of Weimar in summer

Market square of Weimar and its house in Renaissance style

Weimar and its fame for its famous thuringer bratwurst

The famous Weimar triptych made by Lucas Cranach in 1555 at the city church

Half-day private walking your of the highlights

Discover 500 years breath-taking history of Jena!

Jena, known around the globe for its optical industry, is much more than the Zeiss- and Schott Company. Beautifully situated in the Saale-Valley, the city offers a variety of possibilities such as hiking in the surrounding hills.
Let me invite you for a stroll through the city including the viewing area of the JenTower where you can follow the development of the optical industry.
Follow me then to partly more than 500 years old buildings! There, I will explain you the connection between the development of Christian Faith, triggered by the reformer Martin Luther, and the local university.
At other historical places, you will understand why Jena was called "the global capital of philosophy" around 1800 with the philosophers Fichte, Hegel and Schelling lecturing there. See the venues where the polymath J. W. von Goethe and his best friend the philosopher and poet Friedrich von Schiller interchanged their genius thoughts.

Ask for a customized tour: In the footsteps of Andrea Wulf's "Magnificent Rebels"!

Spend a half day walking through the zeiss-optics-city and find where the Classical and Romantic periods meet!

Weimar and its controversial history in the 20th century

From the beginning of the 20th century, Weimar was the sky laboratory for avant-garde European artists and architects. In the aftermath of the WW1 it is in Weimar that the "Bauhaus" university was born, then the Weimar Republic with the creation of the 1st Constitution of the German Nation. . . but it is also in Weimar that will be known the concentration camp "Buchenwald" and the city will be sadly famous to be baptized "Capital of the Führer".
The period of the 20th century was overwhelming for Europeans but particularly for Germans, from the defeat of the 1WW and the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in 1918 until the surrender of the 2WW in 1945.

Nazism is synonym of shame in the world's collective unconscious and it is difficult to approach this period of history without emotions. It's crucial that you take this tour if you want to have the perspective of an expat who has studied psychological and socio-economic mechanisms extensively and get an educated knowledge on this tragic period in history.

Castle of the city of Weimar which under the 3rd Reich served as HQ to the Gestapo

Aug 21st 1919, Theater place of Weimar at the proclamation of the 1st Constitution of Germany

Gathering of 20,000 people in front of the Weimar Gauforum in 1939

Between two wars Weimar is one of the first cities to sympathize with the Nazi Party and became official the "Capital of the Führer"

Stairs of the Bauhaus university by the Belgian architect Henry van der Velde

View of the Bauhaus campus - Bauhaus University was born in Weimar in 1919!

For the 1st time Germany presents to the world its flag and its 1st constitution on the forecourt of the Weimar National Theater on August 21, 1919

The new Bauhaus Museum of Weimar inaugurated in 2019

Hotel Elefant - Hitler's favorite place and Nazi HQ place in Weimar

Gauforum of Weimar. Gauforen should symbolize the centers of power in the 3rd Reich This symbolism of Nazism remains an indelible trace in the landscape of the city.

Half-day private walking tour focused on historical events, culture and art

Follow Napoléon's traces and visit the battlefield of 1806!

In this tour you will learn why Napoléon and his army could win on the 14th of October 1806.

Listen to the course of the battle on historical ground and feel touched by reports of eyewitnesses who have described the arrival of Napoléon and his soldiers opposite them and later what "taking part in a battle" actually meant.

Get to know the different strategies and hear from an individual fate. What meant the historic event for the little town Jena? I will tell it to you and a lot more in this tour.

The little museum is not included in the tour. It can be seen on request and in dependence of the opening hours.
Attention! The next Battle-Reenactment will be in October 2021- depending on the Covid19 development.

This is a half day tour on the battlefield near Jena.

In Weimar was born the German Enlightenment: Goethe, Schiller, Liszt and more!

Goethe and Schiller. . . . who doesn't associate Weimar with its two most famous poets? Germany's most famous poets lived for fifty years in his house. This 3-hour tour will take you back to the city's golden age as Weimar blossomed into a city of culture in the 18th century.
Being curious about the details of the lives of these contemporaries, I specialized in the anecdotes of these celebrities who lived here, and many are these little stories of their lives, which have sometimes changed the course of history!

I fell in love with Thuringia state 25 years ago and I'd love you to feel the same way when you come. I offer the opportunity to bring a new perspective on this city and its history and my point of view as an expat and inhabitant of Weimar.

What makes this tour unique is that I particularly like to bring up celebrity anecdotes that you won't find in travel books. You will be immersed in their daily lives and you will experience this tour like a book of short stories that we listen to.

Martin Wieland is one of the 4 great famous poets of Weimar. He was an important protagonist of the German Enlightenment

The Duchesse of Anna Amalia Library - here the extension (the tower) developed by Wolfgang von Goethe

The heart of Weimar still in an 18th century style

The famous hotel Elefant (market square) where many celebrities have stayed, Goethe regularly drank his Madeira wine there

Goethe's garden house in the heart of the city park

The house of Liszt traces the 2 decades of the pianist spent here in Weimar. This museum is located at the Goethe's park

Franz Liszt's Grand piano at the Liszt's house (Liszt Museum)

Mortuary portrait of the pianist at the Liszt Museum

Classism of Weimar in a half-day private walking tour

Erfurt, the flourishing capital city of Thuringia, place of churches, horticulture and beautiful medieval architecture

Saint Boniface requested the Pope to change the little pagan village "Erphesfurt" into a diocese already in 742. No wonder that the silhouette of many churches dominates Erfurt today. Parts of the Cathedral of St. Mary, and the Church of St. Severnus nearby date back to this time. Today they are the landmark of Erfurt beside the Merchants' Bridge, where on both sides you will be seduced by small houses with little shops selling handcrafted items. The bridge was part of Via Regia, a long-established trade route in the Middle Ages.
No less a person than Martin Luther, famous reformer of Christianity, studied in Erfurt and joined the Augustinians there. Be astonished about my discription of his day while looking at some beautifully restored medieval buildings.
As the name Erfurt suggested, the River Gera has always played an important role in facilitating trade.
Today Erfurt is well known for its horticulture and plays host to the National Garden Show 2021. Enjoy the colourfulness with me!

Discover this inimitably city, "Thuringia's Rome" in a half-day walking tour!

100-years of BAUHAUS Architecture in Jena

Bauhaus Architecture should be solid, cheap and of course beautiful.
Decide for yourself while looking at two out of only six residential buildings in Germany, designed in the office of Walter Gropius. The House "Auerbach" was already built in 1924 and the House "Zuckerkandel" five years later.
Follow the traces of his students and companions in Jena with me! Especially the ideas of Ernst Neufert, the writer of the "Architects' Data" and one of the first students at the "Staatliche BAUHAUS" in Weimar, deserve it to learn about.

The simplicity of this architecture was ground-breaking at its time but today some people prefer the period of change before. You will see a masterpiece of this change, the Ernst-Abbe-Memorial designed by Henry van de Velde, at the end of the tour.

I look forward seeing you astonished!

Ticket to the viewing area of the JenTower.

Jena tours

Explore with 8 tours and 2 guides.

Sabine W.

$ 277 (USD)

Aurelie N.

$ 254 (USD)

Sabine W.

$ 285 (USD)

Aurelie N.

$ 254 (USD)

Sabine W.

$ 472 (USD)

Aurelie N.

$ 254 (USD)

Sabine W.

$ 277 (USD)

Sabine W.

$ 296 (USD)

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