WEI'MAR, a small but interesting t. of Germany, capital of the grand-duchy of Saxe Weimar-Eisenach, and residence of the grand-duke, 60 m. saw. of Leipsic by railway. It stands in a pleasant valley on the left bank of the Ilm ; but the environs are in no way remarkable, and the town itself is irregularly and rather poorly built. Though the residence of the court, and finding its subsistence in providing for the wants of distin guished visitors, Weimar carries on neither trade nor manufactures, and seems a dull provincial-looking town. The luster conferred upon Weimar by the residence here, at the close of the 18th and the earlier portion of the 19th centuries, of Goethe (q.v.), Schiller (q.v.), Herder (q.v.), and Wieland (q.v.), at the court of Karl-August (see Salm WEiman-EisFsAcit), has faded since that group was broken up by death; and now the Interest of the town is almost wholly derived from its monuments, traditions, and associ ations. The town church (stadairche), dating from the year 1400, has an altar-piece by
Cranach, and contains a number of memorable tombs, among which are those of the brilliant soldier, Bernhard of Weimar (q.v.), and of Herder, the philosopher and critic. The ducal palace is a handsome building, some of the apartments of which are deco rated b' frescos illustrating the works of Goethe, Schiller, Herder and Wieland. The public library contains busts of these men of genius; and a number of relics, as the gown worn by Luther when a monk, and Gustavus Adolplius's leather belt, pierced by the bullet that caused his death at LUtzen. The houses of Goethe, Schiller. and Herder are still pointed out. The two former of these poets lie interred in the grand-ducal burial-vault. The park and gardens of the palace, within which is the summer residence of Goethe, are much esteemed as a promenade. Pop, '75, 17,522.