Thüringer Museum, Eisenach

The Thüringer Museum in Eisenach tells the story of art and culture across the region. It stands in four separate sites around the city: the Stadtschloss, the Predigerkirche, the Teezimmer in the Kartausgarten, and the Reuter-Wagner-Museum. The oldest part is the Predigerkirche, a former Dominican church whose early Gothic refectory opened to visitors in 1903. The museum began in 1899 with 422 objects displayed on tables and wall panels. Among the first gifts was the Bornemann prehistoric collection, dug up by a local brickworks owner near Stregda. In 1925 the hotelier Curt Elschner donated more than seventy oil paintings, including works by Arnold Böcklin and Max Klinger. The Stadtschloss joined the museum in 1931, bringing medieval sacred art from nearby parishes. Visitors walk through vaulted rooms in the Predigerkirche to see stone carvings and painted altarpieces from the 14th and 15th centuries. The Stadtschloss now houses changing exhibitions on regional themes and hosts the Thüringer Porzellanstraße collection. In the Kartausgarten’s Teezimmer, delicate porcelain pieces sit beside quiet garden views. Each site offers a different way to explore how Thuringia’s art and history have been shaped over centuries.