The oldest records about Weimar date back to the year 899. Its name changed over the centuries from Wimares through Wimari to Wimar and finally Weimar; it is probably derived from Old High German wih 'holy' + mari 'standing water, swamp'. (Another theory derives the first element from OHG win 'meadow, pasture.') In 1410 it received city rights, although the growth of the city was severely affected by the 1424 fires.
In 1552 Weimar became the capital of the Duchy of Saxe-Weimar (German Sachsen-Weimar) and remained so until 1918.
During the regencies of Anna Amalia (1758�1775) and her son Carl August (1809�1828), Weimar became an important cultural centre of Europe, having been home to such luminaries as Goethe, Schiller, and Herder; and in music the piano virtuoso Hummel (a pupil of Mozart), Liszt, and Bach. Richard Strauss worked in Weimar for 5 years as second conductor in the acclaimed Staatskapelle Weimar (the court orchestra founded in 1491). Several of his encores for works such as Hansel and Gretel, Don Juan and Macbeth were performed by the Staatskapelle Weimar. It has been a site of pilgrimage for the German intelligentsia since Goethe first moved to Weimar in the late 18th century. Goethe was also active in civic duties while living in Weimar. He served as Privy Councilor to the Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach for an extended period. The tombs of Goethe and Schiller, as well as their archives, may be found in the city. Goethe's Elective Affinities (1809) is set around the city of Weimar.
The period in German history from 1919 to 1933 is commonly referred to as the Weimar Republic, as the Republic's constitution was drafted here because the capital, Berlin, with its street rioting after the 1918 German Revolution, was considered too dangerous for the National Assembly to use it as a meeting place.
Walter Gropius founded the Bauhaus School and movement in Weimar in 1919. The School aimed to teach and develop modernist style
