Weimar first appears in writing, 899
A charter of Emperor Arnulf of Carinthia names the place Vvigmara — the earliest evidence that Weimar exists.
The town's history begins with a spelling. In 899 a charter of Emperor Arnulf of Carinthia names the place as Vvigmara, and the city's own chronicle takes that entry as the first documentary mention of Weimar. Everything else about the settlement in that century is inference.
What a first mention is
It is evidence of a name in a document, and nothing more. The charter does not describe a town, count its inhabitants or say what stood here. What it establishes is that by 899 the place was known to an imperial chancery and worth writing down[1] — which, for a settlement in Thuringia at that date, is already a distinction.
A century later, a castle worth besieging
The next entry in the chronicle is louder. In 1002 Emperor Otto III had to break off the siege of the castle of the Count of Weimar without taking it, and the count appears in that account as the most powerful man in Thuringia.[1] Between the two entries, a name on parchment has become a fortress an emperor could not reduce. The castle stood where the palace stands now.[2]
Why the town counts from here
Weimar dates itself from 899, and the count matters for the anniversaries the town keeps. Six more centuries pass before this place is anything a visitor would recognise, and the first document calling it a city is dated 1254.[1]
Sources
- Weimar-Chronik kompakt — Stadt Weimar, retrieved 29 August 2026
- Stadtschloss Weimar — Geschichte — Klassik Stiftung Weimar, retrieved 29 August 2026
Historic sites
Historic sites
Burgplatz 4, 99423 Weimar
The castle the chronicle's next entry describes, in 1002, stood on the site of today's palace.
Period
899–1518
The first date of the medieval period, and the year the town counts its history from.