Grünes (Green) Castle

The Green Castle was constructed between 1562 and 1569 under Duke Johann Wilhelm of Sachsen-Weimar as a residence for himself and his wife Dorothea Susanna. The master builders Nikolaus Gromann and Erhard van Mehren were responsible for its erection. The castle likely owes its name to the former copper roofing of its roof. In 1691, Duke Wilhelm Ernst founded the Ducal Library by making his private collection of 1,400 books accessible to the public. This collection was moved to the Green Castle in 1766. Under the regency of Duchess Anna Amalia, after whom the library was named in 1991, and later under her son Carl August, the library underwent expansion. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe managed the library from 1797 until his death in 1832. Under his aegis, the collection doubled to 80,000 volumes.