Weimar 1999

What was the general impact of the event on your city during the year?

For a long time Weimar was hidden from the world behind the Iron Curtain. After German reunification, Weimar began the process of reclaiming its position in German culture.

Weimar has a difficult Janus-faced history: on the one hand, Weimar is the heart and soul of the German Classical Period – home to Goethe, Schiller, and a plethora of other writers, musicians, artists, and architecture. On the other hand, Weimar represents the lowest of low points of German history and the assault on civilisation by the Nazis.

This particular moment in time, 10 years after the end of the Cold War, was the moment where Weimar could show how, after a century of extremes, it symbolised the changes in what was once East Germany.

What is your best and worst memory about the organisation of the event?

My favourite memory was the sunny day in March when the second accurate copy of the Goethe Garden House was revealed to the public. Thousands of people were in the park to see it, and the instant it was revealed, all the previous doubts about this project vanished. People were wowed. I still ponder the questions it raised to this day: since the second copy, the Goethe Garden House was a copy of a copy (the original destroyed during World War II), it raises the question: what is the real value of an original in an era where technically accurate reproduction of all things is readily achievable?

My worst memory: unfortunately Thüringen state elections were held during 1999, and the campaigning ultimately affected aspects of the cultural programme.

Please mention one or two event(s) of the programme of the city as Capital which was ‘European’ (themes, organisation).

1. The Zeitschneise programme was a path between the Ettersburg Castle and the Buchenwald Concentration Camp. The path connected Weimar’s first attempt at a pan-European centre for cultural exchange with a place where 56,000 people died in cruel conditions.

2. The ‘Moving Points’ international dance festival brought 30 companies from across Europe together in Weimar.

Which part of the programme was the most successful one in your view?

We couldn’t have predicted it in 1999, but the founding of the ‘West-Eastern Divan Workshop and Orchestra’ with Daniel Barenboim, Yo-Yo Ma, and Edward Said has had a lasting impact.

Today it is a worldwide symbol for peace and communication in the Middle East. It also stands for the new and expanded Europe.

Any regrets?

Friction between entities and bureaucracy at the national, state, regional, and city level was frustrating.

What legacy has the event left?

Weimar has benefited greatly from being the European Capital of Culture: it’s given us an ability to place our present within our past, thus giving us a perspective on the future. We know that the future is impossible to understand without historic perspective. Weimar can think about its future within the framework of its past.

What advice would you give to others currently preparing to host a European Capital of Culture?

It’s important to strike a balance in how the programme is directed. Once a theme is picked and committees are established, the leadership must avoid stifling the creativity. It’s all too easy to cross the line and inadvertently discourage new ideas by, for example, requiring too much paperwork too often.

Bernd Kauffmann,

President of “Weimar 1999 –

Kulturstadt Europas GmbH”