Location of Buchenwald
Buchenwald, one of the largest concentration camps established by the Nazis, was constructed in a wooded area on the northern slopes of Mount Ettersberg, about five miles northwest of the city of Weimar in east-central Germany. Before Weimar was taken under Nazi control, it was best known as the home of leading literary figure Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and as the birthplace of the German constitutional democracy in 1919--the Weimar Republic. During the Nazi regime, "Weimar" became associated with the Buchenwald concentration camp (Buchenwald). Prior to the establishment of Buchenwald, Weimar played an important role in the development of German culture and was home to many great men, including Goethe, Schiller, Luther, Bach, and Liszt as well as others. Weimar, the symbol for the greatness of German culture, became associated with the manifestation of Nazi barbarianism with the construction of Buchenwald (Buchenwald Concentration Camp and the Rescue of Jews).