Park an der Ilm
About This Site
The Park an der Ilm is a landscape garden of 48 hectares along the river at the edge of Weimar's old town, laid out from 1776 under Goethe's guiding hand and from 1778 on the western slope by Duke Carl August, with Goethe's garden house, the Roman House, the Tempelherrenhaus and the Liszt-Haus standing in it. Part of the UNESCO World Heritage ensemble Classical Weimar since 1998, it is open all year and free.
Gardens before the park, 14th century–1685
Gardens stood along the Ilm long before the landscape park: the palace gardens with the orchard by the Schwansee from about 1370, a star-shaped garden from 1685, and the baroque Welscher Garten.[1]
A landscape garden, from 1776
The park's design began in 1776, under Goethe's decisive influence, in the manner of the sentimental English landscape garden; in the spring of that year he acquired the garden house on the park's eastern slope that now carries his name.[1] From 1778 the western slope of the Ilm was shaped with its backdrops of trees, walks and park architecture.[2] Duke Carl August and Goethe made of it a work of art to be walked through, with changing views, buildings and places to sit, serving to this day for recreation, education and the enjoyment of nature.[2]
What stands in it, 1778–1923
The oldest surviving piece of the park is the rock staircase known as the Nadelöhr; the Borkenhäuschen of 1778 was Carl August's retreat, and the Schlangenstein of 1787 is by Martin Gottlieb Klauer.[1] In 1782 Carl August had the Dessauer Stein raised on the west bank, a five-metre travertine slab in memory of his friendship with the Prince of Dessau.[1] The Roman House was built between 1791 and 1798 as a garden house for the duke.[1] Later came the Tempelherrenhaus, the Liszt-Haus, the Shakespeare monument of 1904 by Otto Lessing — the first Shakespeare monument on the European mainland — the copy of the Euphrosyne monument of 1912 and, at the park's edge, the Haus Am Horn.[2][1]
World Heritage, 1998, and the visit today
The park stands as an example of the development of the European landscape park, and in 1998 it was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list as part of Classical Weimar.[2][1] It stretches 1.6 kilometres along both banks of the Ilm, about 300 metres wide; it is accessible all year, and admission is free.[1][2]
Questions visitors ask
- How big is the Park an der Ilm?
- 48 hectares, stretching 1.6 kilometres along both banks of the Ilm and about 300 metres wide.
- Who laid out the park?
- Duke Carl August and Goethe: the design began in 1776 under Goethe's guiding influence, and from 1778 the western slope was shaped with its trees, walks and park buildings.
- What is there to see in the park?
- Goethe's garden house, the Roman House, the Tempelherrenhaus and the Liszt-Haus; the Borkenhäuschen, the Schlangenstein, the Dessauer Stein, the Shakespeare monument of 1904 and the Euphrosyne monument; and the Haus Am Horn at its edge.
- Is the park open, and does it cost anything?
- It is accessible all year round, and admission is free.
- Is the park a UNESCO World Heritage site?
- Yes, since 1998, as part of the ensemble Classical Weimar.
Sources
- Park an der Ilm — Wikipedia (de), retrieved 30 August 2026
- Park an der Ilm — Klassik Stiftung Weimar, retrieved 30 August 2026
Connected Historical Figures
publisher • entrepreneur • court official
He drew up its designs with Goethe.
writer • statesman • naturalist
He and Carl August began laying the park out in 1778, and his garden house stands in it.
duke • grand duke • patron
With Goethe he laid the park out from 1776; from 1778 the western slope, and the Borkenhäuschen of that year was his retreat.
Visit Information
Free
Accessible all year
Ilm Park, 99425 Weimar
50.9731, 11.3364
Stay and eat nearby
Where to stay
Beethovenplatz 1-2, 99423 Weimar
The comfort rooms look towards the Park an der Ilm.
Belvederer Allee 25, 99425 Weimar
The hotel stands directly across from the park.
Events held here
Events
Fridays at 18:00 and Saturdays at 16:00, about ninety minutes
Laid out under Goethe's influence, and part of the route.
Daily at 10:00 and 14:00, about two hours
The walk drops into the park mid-route.
Fridays and Saturdays from 20:30, 21 March to 1 November
The walk drops into the park before climbing back to the palace.
One day in June
The park is one property with the Roman House standing in it — the landscape Goethe helped lay out from 1778.
The Saturday of the Onion Market, in October
Roughly half of each lap runs on the park's made paths.
The second weekend in October, every year
The Saturday city run leaves the streets to loop through the park.
In Weimar's history
Historical periods
The landscape garden a duke and his privy councillor made of the river valley, and the setting the period's houses stand around.
For roughly sixty years a duchy of a few thousand people held the centre of German literature, because its ruler kept inviting writers to live there and then gave them jobs. That is the whole mechanism, and it ran from Goethe's arrival in 1775 to his death in 1832.