Wieland Monument
About This Site
A bronze of the first of them, on the square that carries his name. Anna Amalia called Christoph Martin Wieland to Weimar in 1772 as tutor to the princes, and the monument by Hanns Gasser was unveiled during the celebrations of Carl August's hundredth birthday.
Called in 1772
Wieland, poet and editor of Der teutsche Merkur, was brought to Weimar by Duchess Anna Amalia in 1772 as tutor to the princes[1] — three years before Goethe. He was the first of the writers the court called, and the circle everything else grew from formed around him; his bronze stands on the square that carries his name.
Hanns Gasser's bronze, unveiled at Carl August's centenary
Hanns Gasser made the bronze, and it was unveiled during the celebrations of Carl August's hundredth birthday[1] — the town honoured the first of its poets in the same festivities as the duke who had brought the others, and Wieland has stood on his square ever since, the one figure of the classical circle who was already in Weimar when it began.
Questions visitors ask
- Who was Christoph Martin Wieland, and why does he matter here?
- Poet and editor of Der teutsche Merkur, brought to Weimar by Duchess Anna Amalia in 1772 as tutor to the princes — three years before Goethe.[1] Everything the town is now visited for was assembled around a man who was already here.
- Who made the monument, and when was it unveiled?
- Hanns Gasser made the bronze; it was unveiled during the celebrations of Carl August's hundredth birthday.[1]
- Is there an admission fee?
- No — it's free, in a public square, accessible at any time.
Connected Historical Figures
writer • poet • translator
The monument is to him, on the square that carries his name.
duchess • regent • patron • composer
She called him to Weimar in 1772 as tutor to the princes — the fact the monument commemorates.
duke • grand duke • patron
The bronze was unveiled during the celebrations of his hundredth birthday.
Sources (1)
- Bauten, Denkmale, Brunnen – Denkmale — Stadt Weimar, retrieved 29 August 2026
Visit Information
Free
Accessible at any time in a public square
Wielandplatz, 99423 Weimar
In Weimar's history
Historical periods
The first of the writers called to Weimar, in bronze on the square that carries his name.
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.