Living Museum

Park an der Ilm

Sheep race across the path in front of Goethe's garden house, heading straight for the other meadow. Bleating loudly, they shove each other out of the way. Their excitement is contagious. After all, the aromatic herbs and the delicious clover are still found on the other side, now that they’ve eaten everything else on their morning graze. Only when all the 300 or so sheep and the handful of goats are over there, peacefully plucking greenery, does a ravenous silence return. Shepherd Ekkehard Matthey closes the mobile fence and smiles. Now’s the time to fetch the tractor and bring in the water troughs. We are in the Park an der Ilm in Weimar – one of Germany’s most picturesque and important landscape gardens. It is Weimar's green lung – a place to marvel, stroll, relax and go jogging. Together with ten other monuments in the city of culture, the park is part of the UNESCO World Heritage complex of Classical Weimar.

Fleet-footed gardeners who fertilise everything

Locals and visitors alike are delighted by a special view every year in spring or late summer: sheep wander peacefully across the meadows along the Ilm river. They are allowed to eat everything they can find for a brief period of around two weeks, which saves the effort of mechanical mowing. Cyclists, joggers and walkers stop of course to take photos. Sheep in the World Heritage Park – that's unusual. “Not so much”, says Andreas Pahl, Director of Gardens at Klassik Stiftung Weimar. “They were already here in Goethe's era.” The expert is out and about with us in the Park an der Ilm. He shows us what needs to be done to maintain this kind of living museum. “Not only do our natural lawn mowers look delightful”, Pahl continues. Their work is also sustainable. After all, heavy mowing machinery compacts the soil, while the ruminants get everything done fleet of foot and fertilise the meadows at the same time. Grazing is also typical of 18th and 19th century landscape gardens, which were intended to replicate a kind of idealised nature. And these images of an idyllic outdoor environment are perfectly suited to the notion. Andreas Pahl points to the floodplain in front of us and says: "The valley only looks natural at first glance. But everything in the landscape garden is completely designed." It features visual axes and garden architecture, with light, spacious areas and romantic or seemingly mystical crannies. Nothing was left to chance. The young Duke of Weimar, Carl August, and his friend Johann Wolfgang von Goethe planned this landscape garden in 1778, modelling their plans on an English garden. Around 140 different species of trees and shrubs still grow here today. With its natural Ilm riverbank, massive trees and rough grassland on the slope, the park is "a hotspot for species conservation", explains Andreas Pahl. And it is a listed monument. The task of the approximately 40-strong garden team at the Klassik Stiftung Weimar is now to preserve all of this and to manage it ecologically – without pesticides or large-scale watering. And it’s not just here, but in all the parks and gardens run by the Klassik Stiftung.

Old trees provide a habitat for many species

Not an easy job at the moment, as heat and drought are causing problems for the Park an der Ilm, like in many other green heritage sites in Germany. Andreas Pahl says: “We are seeing more and more deadwood in our old trees. And many no longer reach the biblical age of their predecessors. But they are, at the same time, valuable habitats and shape the visual impressions of the English landscape garden." We wander with Andreas Pahl to an oak tree that is around 300 years old. The tree stands not far from Goethe's garden house, directly on the Ilm Valley cycle path that dissects the park. Quite possibly it provided shade for the celebrities of yesteryear. Goethe and Schiller may well have arranged to meet here for a chat. Or Franz Liszt might have thought of a melody beneath the hanging branches. Tree climbers have secured some heavy branches with ropes to ensure that the oak continues to weather the storms. Klassik Stiftung Weimar is doing its best to keep old trees alive for as long as possible, even during these sweltering periods. There are regular tours with the Lower Monument Protection Authority, the Lower Nature Conservation Authority and the Thuringia State Monument Office - which coordinate the upcoming measures. And often there is no need for discussion at all. Take old trees, for example: they are doubly precious. It is thanks to them that the parks retain their historical look. The green primary rocks are a habitat for other species at the same time, including bats and rare bird species. Diseased trees may therefore be left where they are in the Park an der Ilm, provided they do not pose a safety risk. Andreas Pahl believes that these “tree sculptures” – which are important for countless insects – perfectly match the look of the landscape park. But paths still need to be safe. Trees are felled as a last resort, unlike in a national park, for example. And then you can't just replace them with any other tree. The gardeners are already planting a more climate-resilient Douglas fir in place of a spruce – both of them conifers with a quite similar appearance. But more change is simply not possible. Andreas Pahl hits the nail on the head: “We aim to preserve the images we see today for future generations."

Youngsters need fresh air

These images fascinate him. He is happy to open guests' eyes to the unique beauties found here: how charmingly the Ilm meanders and winds through the valley! And whether we noticed the clear similarities to Italy? Pyramid poplars were planted originally. They have the shape of Tuscan cypresses but are better equipped to withstand the cold. Shortly afterwards, we find ourselves standing on the newly renovated natural bridge over the Ilm and gaze towards the Needle’s Eye. The young Goethe had it built as a memorial to a young noblewoman whose suicide in the Ilm shook the town at the time. And even today you can still feel a cramped sense of desperation on the narrow staircase between the rocks. These places where nature and culture come together are found frequently. And we intuitively grasp another intention of landscape gardens: to touch our emotions. The mood is buoyant down on the Ilm meadows; but melancholic hues predominate here at the Needle’s Eye We stroll through the Needle’s Eye up to the Roman House. Duke Carl August often retired to this summer residence. Pahl shows us a spot with small copper beeches growing up among other trees. They were planted to replace three old copper beeches that the Duke had positioned there to give guests an impressive reception. The idea is: replace trees in the park, not in the nursery. "The plants learn to deal with the real conditions here from day one. And due to the competition with companion plants, they also grow quickly in stature into the light”, says the expert. By the way: the old copper beeches come from a Sondershausen forest from 1797. And the seedlings in the park originate from the same place as well. Perhaps they are the direct descendants.