Weimar Becomes European Cultural Capital for 1999
February 22, 1999 - 0:0
WEIMAR, Germany Weimar, a small town in Germany known for its links with writers, musicians and designers, as well as the ill-fated republic of the inter-war period, became Europe's culture capital. One cannot think of German culture without Weimar, President Roman Herzog said at the inaugural ceremony in the German National Theatre where the Weimar Republic was proclaimed in 1919. He recalled the names of musicians Johann Sebastian Bach and Franz Liszt, poets Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller, and the celebrated design school of the Bauhaus, also founded in 1919.
Herzog also noted, however, that the Nazi concentration camp of Buchenwald, where 56,000 people died, was built just outside Weimar, warning that this showed that culture and civilization are never acquired for ever. The program for Weimar's year as culture capital links the many aspects of the town's history, from the 250th anniversary of Goethe's birth through the 80th anniversary of the republic and the Bauhaus, to the 10th anniversary of German reunification.
A forest path laid out last month goes from the Castle of Ettersberg, where the sophisticated society of the Sachs-Weimar Court gathered, to Buchenwald; from April to July the site of the camp will exhibit drawings by Goethe, and examples of furniture made by prisoners will be on show in Schiller's House. Goethe's Faust will be performed in various versions, theater, ballet and cinema, while distinguished visitors will include theater director Peter Brook, musicians Daniel Barenboim, Yehudi Menuhin and Kurt Masur, and the Bejart ballet of Lausanne with a tribute to Freddy Mercury of the pop group Queen. The events of the year are expected to attract five million people to the eastern German town, which has a resident population of 60,000.
Next year, being 2000, nine towns will be proclaimed European culture capitals: Avignon (France), Bergen (Norway), Bologna (Italy), Brussels (Belgium), Cracow (Poland), Helsinki (Finland), Prague (Czech Republic), Reykjavik (Iceland) and Santiago de Compostella (Spain). (AFP)
Herzog also noted, however, that the Nazi concentration camp of Buchenwald, where 56,000 people died, was built just outside Weimar, warning that this showed that culture and civilization are never acquired for ever. The program for Weimar's year as culture capital links the many aspects of the town's history, from the 250th anniversary of Goethe's birth through the 80th anniversary of the republic and the Bauhaus, to the 10th anniversary of German reunification.
A forest path laid out last month goes from the Castle of Ettersberg, where the sophisticated society of the Sachs-Weimar Court gathered, to Buchenwald; from April to July the site of the camp will exhibit drawings by Goethe, and examples of furniture made by prisoners will be on show in Schiller's House. Goethe's Faust will be performed in various versions, theater, ballet and cinema, while distinguished visitors will include theater director Peter Brook, musicians Daniel Barenboim, Yehudi Menuhin and Kurt Masur, and the Bejart ballet of Lausanne with a tribute to Freddy Mercury of the pop group Queen. The events of the year are expected to attract five million people to the eastern German town, which has a resident population of 60,000.
Next year, being 2000, nine towns will be proclaimed European culture capitals: Avignon (France), Bergen (Norway), Bologna (Italy), Brussels (Belgium), Cracow (Poland), Helsinki (Finland), Prague (Czech Republic), Reykjavik (Iceland) and Santiago de Compostella (Spain). (AFP)