Thüringer Eisenbahnverein

The Weimar Railway Museum uses the site of the former locomotive depot on Eduard-Rosenthal-Straße as an exhibition venue for its vehicle collection and railway technology. The location east of the station has been protected as a technical monument of the Free State of Thuringia since 1980 and is listed in the register of cultural monuments in Weimar. Since 1995 the museum has been run by Thüringer Eisenbahnverein e. V.; the association acquired ownership of the site in 2018.

The collection comprises more than 30 historic steam, diesel and electric locomotives and is regarded as the largest of its kind in Thuringia; its holdings of electric locomotives are among the most extensive in Germany. The focus is on rolling stock of the former Deutsche Reichsbahn, with nearly all diesel and electric locomotive classes that were in use until the end represented. A large portion of the vehicles belongs to the association, while many others have been provided on loan by Deutsche Bahn AG, its subsidiaries or other railway companies.

The holdings include not only large freight steam locomotives but also prototypes and modern experimental locomotives; for example, a prototype locomotive of class 120 and the experimental locomotive AEG 12X (128 001) are on display. The collection is complemented by numerous passenger, sleeping, dining and freight cars; a dining car is shown on loan from MITROPA. Other exhibits include road vehicles and historic tramcars from Erfurt, Jena, Berlin and Potsdam, which make Weimar an important location for GDR‑era traction vehicles in Thuringia.

The museum regularly hosts public events: a large railway festival on the last weekend of May and during the Weimar Onion Market (usually mid‑October), a smaller summer festival on the first weekend of August, as well as special excursions; at festivals and on excursions, guest locomotives from other societies and from the active fleets of public and private railway operators are featured alongside the museum’s own vehicles.