While in Weimar, we visited the home of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Goethe is to German what Shakespeare is to English or what Dante is to Italian. He is best known for his play, "Faust", which is the original story of the man who sells his sole to the devil. But at the end of the story, Faust finds redemption through love. This is a common German theme, also found in my favorite opera, Wagner's Tannhäuser. Another is Redemption through striving, and a good example is Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival.
He spent most of his adult life in Weimar. And it is due in large part to Goethe that Weimar is a classical city. He attracted other prominent people to the city.
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