Special celebrations have been held in the east German town of Weimar to mark the beginning of its year as the official cultural capital of Europe.

Weimar which takes over the title from Stockholm will celebrate the two-hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the birth of the poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe this year, who is buried in the town.

A new museum of modern art has opened with an exhibition of works by international artists from the nineteen-sixties and -seventies.