Discover Possendorf: a green-framed village square and Feininger’s legacy

Possendorf has preserved its village character and original layout as a village centred around a square to this day. Four lime trees and a village pond stand on the village square; it is also home to the only monument to German reunification in the Weimarer Land. Together, these features give the village a distinct profile, shaped by its historic settlement pattern and a special place of remembrance.

Local history and Feininger’s legacy

Possendorf was first mentioned in a document in 1194, under the name “Busendorf”. Another historical connection is the village church: in the early 1920s, Weimar Bauhaus artist Lyonel Feininger used it several times as a subject for his paintings. Anyone interested in art and local history will find a tangible link here between a building in Possendorf and Feininger’s work.

The village square also offers a way to appreciate the village’s distinctive features: the four lime trees and the pond are part of its character, while the monument commemorates German reunification. Different aspects of local history thus come together in a named public space, without reducing Possendorf to a single historical association.

Events and the cycle route

Local community life is also reflected in the events calendar. The Possendorf Traditional Association (Traditionsverein Possendorf e.V.), the local district council, the parish, the Possendorf Singers’ Circle and others organise more than 15 community events and festivals each year. The programme can vary from year to year. If you are planning your trip around a particular festival, it is therefore worth checking the dates for your chosen travel period.

The Feininger Cycle Route, which passes through Possendorf, offers another connection. Art history and cycling thus meet in the village’s profile: Feininger is associated both with the church as a subject for his paintings and with the cycle route’s name. When choosing a holiday apartment, it may be helpful to distinguish between the enduring features that shape the village and an annual festival programme that varies from year to year. Consider whether local history, a particular event date or the cycle route will be the deciding factor for your trip.

Weimar: parkland, literature and Bauhaus

In Weimar, the 48-hectare Park on the Ilm is a cultural and landscape attraction in its own right. This unique landscaped garden lies at the edge of Weimar’s Old Town and continues to offer opportunities for recreation, learning and the aesthetic enjoyment of nature. Goethe’s Garden House in the park was his first home of his own in Weimar, in 1776. He wrote the ballad “The Erlking” and the poem “To the Moon” in the garden house.

In the garden of Goethe’s Garden House stands the “Stone of Good Fortune”, installed in 1777. Goethe and his drawing teacher Adam Friedrich Oeser designed it; it is considered one of Germany’s first non-figurative monuments. The buildings and parks of Classical Weimar also tell the story of the cultural flowering of Weimar Classicism. They reflect the enlightened patronage of the dukes, which drew prominent German writers and thinkers such as Goethe, Schiller and Herder to Weimar in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

The Bauhaus Museum Weimar presents one of the country’s most important Bauhaus collections and the oldest Bauhaus collection in the world. The collection of the Klassik Stiftung Weimar now comprises 13,000 objects and documents. Outstanding exhibits in the museum include the Wagenfeld Lamp, Marcel Breuer’s Slatted Chair and Marianne Brandt’s teapot. Schiller’s original desk and bed are on display in Schiller’s House. Those who would also like to explore Weimar on foot can join the public Grand City Tour, which takes in the most important sights. From Weimarhallenpark, a terrace leads into the Bauhaus Museum and invites visitors to linger even before they go inside.

Discover more destinations: Schwerstedt, Lehnstedt, Tonndorf, Kleinschwabhausen, Niedertrebra, Magdala, Kapellendorf, Niedergrunstedt.

For the broader travel overview: Weimarer Land.