Am Ettersberg
About Am Ettersberg
Not a town but a rural municipality of nineteen villages, formed in 2019 on the northern slope of the Ettersberg — the wooded hill that carries both Schloss Ettersburg and the Buchenwald memorial on its far side. About nine thousand people live in it.
Sights in Am Ettersberg
Am Schloß 1, 99439 Ettersburg
The castle stands on the Ettersberg above these villages, and its parish is one of the nineteen.
- Buchenwald MemorialMemorial
Buchenwald, 99427 Weimar
The memorial is on the same hill this municipality is named for, above the villages on its northern slope.
Am Ettersberg in depth
A municipality made in 2019
Am Ettersberg was founded on 1 January 2019 out of the independent parishes of the former administrative community Nordkreis Weimar, together with the parishes of Ballstedt and Ettersburg and the small town of Neumark. Nineteen villages, some nine thousand people: Berlstedt, Buttelstedt, Vippachedelhausen, Großobringen, Heichelheim, Kleinobringen, Krautheim, Ramsla, Sachsenhausen, Schwerstedt, Wohlsborn and the rest.[1] It is farming country, and it is the part of Weimar's surroundings that visitors pass through rather than to.
The hill it is named for
The municipality lies on the northern slope of the wooded Ettersberg.[1] That hill is the one thing everybody here shares a horizon with, and its two landmarks could not be further apart in kind: Schloss Ettersburg, the summer residence where the classical court read and played, and on the same hill the memorial at Buchenwald. The nineteen villages and the memorial sit on the same slope.
What that means for a visitor
Practically: the road up to Ettersburg and the road up to the memorial start in this municipality, and the villages between them are ordinary working places with churches, a bakery and a bus stop. The geography here is not decorative — it explains why the memorial's neighbours have spent eighty years living with a place the whole world visits.
Questions visitors ask
- What is Am Ettersberg known for?
- Am Ettersberg is a rural municipality of nineteen villages on the northern slope of the Ettersberg,[1] the hill that carries both Schloss Ettersburg and the Buchenwald memorial on its far side.
- When was Am Ettersberg formed?
- On 1 January 2019, out of the independent parishes of the former administrative community Nordkreis Weimar, together with the parishes of Ballstedt and Ettersburg and the small town of Neumark.[1]
- How many people live in Am Ettersberg?
- About nine thousand, across nineteen villages including Berlstedt, Buttelstedt, Ettersburg and Neumark.[1]
- What is the connection to the Buchenwald memorial?
- The memorial stands on the same hill the municipality is named for, above the villages on its northern slope;[1] the road up to it starts within the municipality's boundaries.
Quick Information
Highlights & Attractions
Historical Significance
The countryside north of the Ettersberg, whose hill carries both the ducal summer residence of the classical court and the memorial to the concentration camp.
Dining Options
Sources (1)
- Am Ettersberg — Landgemeinde Am Ettersberg, retrieved 29 August 2026
Stay and eat nearby
Where to eat
In der Hohle 3, OT Wohlsborn, Am Ettersberg
In Wohlsborn, one of the municipality's villages.
Interesting reads
Historical figures
1749–1832 • writer • statesman • naturalist
1759–1805 • writer • poet • historian
1739–1807 • duchess • regent • patron • composer
1883–1969 • architect • founder and director of the Bauhaus • teacher
Historic sites
Frauenplan 1, 99423 Weimar
Platz der Demokratie 1, 99423 Weimar
Stéphane-Hessel-Platz 1, 99423 Weimar