Klötznersches Haus

The Klötznersche Haus is a historic town house on the market square in Eisenberg, a small town in the Saale-Holzland district of Thuringia. Its cellars date back to the 13th century, while the first written record of the building comes from 1555. In 1785 the house was substantially rebuilt, as shown by an inscription on the keystone of the arch. Karl Friedrich Klötzner sold it to the town in 1911, and it remained a rented dwelling until 1984. The house now serves as the town museum, opened in 1992 after thorough restoration. It replaced a former local history museum that had operated from 1953 to 1980 in nearby Friedrichstanneck Castle but closed because of structural defects. Exhibits cover the house’s own past, the town’s development and local industries, with displays on the former duchies of Saxe-Eisenberg and Saxe-Altenburg. Two unusual features are the medieval ‘black kitchen’ and a 14-metre-deep shaft in the vaulted cellar. Visitors can see the permanent displays on regional history and the legendary ‘Eisenberg Moor’, whose image appears on the town’s coat of arms. Guided tours of the town start from the museum foyer by arrangement. The building itself, with its stone archway and timbered upper storey, stands as a quiet witness to Eisenberg’s centuries-long story.