Weimar Princely Crypt

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The princely crypt with a portico entrance facing north
West view of the princely crypt, on the right the adjoining burial chapel
Upper interior of the royal crypt
The coffins of Goethe and Schiller

The Weimar Princely Crypt is the burial place of some members of the Saxon Weimar and Saxon Weimar-Eisenach houses in the historical cemetery in Weimar . Even Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller are buried in it. The crypt is owned by the Weimar Classic Foundation .

It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1998, together with the Historic Cemetery as part of the Classical Weimar ensemble .

Building and cultural history

Grand Duke Carl August had been planning the construction of a princely crypt on the new Weimar cemetery, which had been opened in 1818 , since 1823 . The original burial place in Weimar was the Jacob's cemetery , but it became too small. The royal crypt was built between 1823 and 1828 by Clemens Wenzeslaus Coudray . The lower vault was largely completed in the summer of 1824, so that the 27 coffins of the Weimar royal family stored in the city palace could be transferred to the crypt. The princely crypt in Weimar serves as the burial place of the grand ducal house of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach.

On December 16, 1827 , bones supposedly belonging to Friedrich Schiller were transferred to the princely crypt; this was originally buried in 1805 in the vault of the Jacobsfriedhof Weimar . A genetic test carried out in 2008, however, showed that it was not Schiller's bones; they were then reburied in an anonymous grave in the neighboring cemetery. Schiller's coffin has been empty since then.

Carl August himself died on June 14, 1828 and was buried in the princely crypt on July 9.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was also buried in the royal crypt on March 26, 1832, four days after his death - at his own request next to Schiller, to whom he felt a long-term friendship.

The designs for Carl August's metal coffin and the oak coffins by Goethe and Schiller also come from Coudray.

Later, a Russian Orthodox chapel was placed on the back wall as a burial chapel.

Recent history

During the Second World War , Goethe and Schiller's coffins were moved to a medical bunker in Jena . During the last days of the war, the Jena police headquarters ordered the bunker manager Werner Knye to prepare both coffins for destruction by detonation and incineration, so that, according to National Socialist convictions, they would not fall into the hands of the approaching Americans as trophies . Thanks to an initiative by Werner Knyes, both coffins were saved from destruction: he hid them behind mountains of bandages. As early as May 12, 1945, the Americans were able to bring them back to the royal crypt.

After the princes were expropriated, the crypt became the property of the State of Thuringia in December 1948 . In 1952 the royal crypt was renamed “Goethe and Schiller crypt” by decision of the Goethe National Museum . In 1992 this burial place got its old name back.

List of coffins

List of coffins I.
List of coffins II.

There are 33 coffins in the royal crypt. Of the original 42 coffins belonging to members of the Sachsen-Weimar and Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach houses, one (No. 26) was removed and ten relocated for conservation reasons. Then there are the coffins of Goethe and Schiller.

  1. Friedrich von Schiller (1759–1805), empty
  2. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832)
  1. Duke Wilhelm IV (1598–1662)
  2. Duchess Eleonora Dorothea (1602–1664), wife of 1
  3. Duchess Christiana Elisabetha (1638–1679), wife of 4
  4. Duke Johann Ernst II (1627–1683), son of 1 + 2
  5. Prince Johann Wilhelm (June 4, 1686 - October 14, 1686), son of 13 + 8
  6. Princess Eleonora Christiana (1689–1690), daughter of 13 + 8
  7. Princess Johanna Augusta (1690–1691), daughter of 13 + 8
  8. Duchess Sophia Augusta (1663–1694), 1st wife of 13
  9. Prince Carl Friedrich (1695–1696), son of 13 from his second marriage to Charlotte von Hessen-Homburg
  10. Princess Christiana Sophia (1700–1701), daughter of 13 from her second marriage
  11. Duchess Anna Dorothea (1657–1704), daughter of 4 + 3
  12. Princess Maria Louisa (1697–1704), daughter of 13 from her second marriage
  13. Duke Johann Ernst III. (1664–1707), 2nd son of 4 + 3
  14. Princess Johanna Eleonora Henrietta (1721–1722), daughter of 21 + 16
  15. Princess Charlotta Agnesa Leopoldina (1720–1724), daughter of 21 + 16
  16. Duchess Eleonora Wilhelmina (1696–1726), 1st wife of 21
  17. Duke Wilhelm Ernst (1662–1728), 1st son of 4 + 3
  18. Prince Imanuel Friedrich Wilhelm Bernhard (1725–1729), son of 21 + 16
  19. Prince Johann Wilhelm (1719–1732), son of 21 + 16
  20. Prince Carl August Eugenius (1735–1736), son of 21 from his second marriage
  21. Duke Ernst August I (1688–1748), son of 13 + 8
  22. Princess Johanna Charlotta (1693–1751), daughter of 13 + 8
  23. Unknown prince of the 17th / 18th centuries Century
  24. Princess Wilhelmina Augusta (1717–1752), daughter of 21 + 16
  25. Duke Ernst August II. Constantin (1737–1758), son from second marriage at 21
  26. Entrails of Duke Ernst August II. Constantin (25) - no longer in the royal crypt
  27. Grand Duke Carl August (1757–1828), 1st son of 25 and Anna Amalie
  28. Grand Duchess Louisa (1757-1830), wife of 27
  29. Duchess Ida (1794-1852), wife of 33
  30. Grand Duke Carl Friedrich (1783–1853), 1st son of 27 + 28
  31. Princess Anna Sophia (1851-1859), daughter of 40 + 38
  32. Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna (1786-1859), wife of 30
  33. Duke Bernhard (1792–1862), 2nd son of 27 + 28
  34. Princess Anna Amalia Maria (1828–1864), daughter of 33 + 29
  35. Son of Prince Hermann and Princess Auguste , grandson of 33 + 29 (* † 1865)
  36. Prince Alexander (1857–1891), grandson of 33 + 29, 3rd son of Hermann von Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach
  37. Hereditary Grand Duke Carl August (1844–1894), son of 40 + 38
  38. Grand Duchess Sophie (1824–1897), wife of 40
  39. Prince Bernhard Heinrich (1878–1900), 2nd son of 37 + 41
  40. Grand Duke Carl Alexander (1818–1901), son of 30 + 32
  41. Hereditary Grand Duchess Pauline (1852–1904), wife of 37, granddaughter of 33 + 29
  42. Grand Duchess Caroline (1884–1905), 1st wife of Grand Duke Wilhelm Ernst

Notes

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Outsourced for conservation reasons.

Web links

Commons : Fürstengruft (Weimar)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ . In 1826, when the alleged Schiller was opening his grave, Goethe managed to remove the skull, which he kept in his house for a while. Poor by one illusion: gene test shows: Schiller's bones belong to an unknown person. In: schwaebische-post.de. January 7, 2017, archived from the original on January 26, 2016 ; accessed on January 7, 2017 .
  2. ^ Matthias Schulz: The Goethe file . In: Der Spiegel . No. 40 , 2004 ( online ).
  3. ↑ Tour plan to the Princely Crypt (PDF; 1.61 MB), January 2017.

Coordinates: 50 ° 58 ′ 21.3 ″  N , 11 ° 19 ′ 32.3 ″  E