Located about 30 km south of Weimar, the former country estate of the von Stein family gained fame through Goethe's love for Charlotte von Stein and his frequent visits between 1775 and 1788. The manor is almost completely preserved with castle, park, nursery, patronage church, surrounding courtyard buildings and a freestanding theater.
The moated castle was built around 1600 in the Renaissance style. In 1733, Kochberg became the property of the Barons von Stein, who used it as a country estate and had some renovations carried out. Charlotte von Stein and her eldest son Carl made Kochberg Castle a musical and social center in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The museum in the castle displays furniture and art objects from the former possession of the von Stein family. The highlight of the furnishings is the desk on which Goethe himself immortalized the dates of some of his visits in ink.
Around 1800, Carl von Stein built the Liebhabertheater (Connoisseur's Theater), creating his own court of the muses on the country estate, following the Weimar model. The classicist theater with its portico is part of the European Route of Historic Theaters. The stage and auditorium are festively decorated with hand-marbled paper wallpaper and floral borders. The Liebhabertheater Kochberg Castle, an operating theater of the Weimar Classic Foundation (www.liebhabertheater.com), invites visitors from May to October on weekends to opera, theater performances, and chamber concerts with renowned artists in the small authentic theater of Goethe's time, with a special attention given to historical performance practice.
Carl von Stein also initiated the transformation of the originally Baroque "Great Garden" into a six-hectare neo-classical-romantic landscape park. Under magnificent old trees, winding paths lead to a canvas house, a tower ruin, a grotto complex with a burial ground, a bathing lake, and an exceptional flower garden.
The castle restaurant offers homemade cakes and regional dishes with game specialties.
Accessible
Guided tours
Geöffnet
Parking
Restaurant
Events
Restroom
Wednesday to Monday
10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Closed on Tuesdays
The museum is closed from November 2 to March 20.
The park is freely accessible all year round.
The theater plays from May to the end of September
currently closed
Castle Museum
Adult: 5,00 €
Reduced: 4,00 €
Students (Ages 16-20): 2,00 €
Admission is free for children under the age of 16.
Online tickets here.
Kochberg Castle in Großkochberg
Klassik Stiftung Weimar
Burgplatz 4
99423 Weimar
Phone: +49 / 36 43 / 545 400
Fax: 0 36 43 / 545 401
Tourist-Information
Mark 10
99423 Weimar
Liebhabertheater (Connoisseur’s Theater)
Im Schlosshof 3
07407 Großkochberg
tickets theaterkasse@liebhabertheater.com
Website