Approximately in the center of the idyllically situated mountain town of Ruhla, the museum is located in one of the most beautiful and oldest half-timbered houses in Ruhla. According to the age determination of the beams carried out in the course of an extensive reconstruction in 1992-1994, the house was built around 1613/1614. According to oral tradition, it probably belonged as a manor house to the hammer mill once located behind it. The building was therefore erected in the heyday of the cutlery trade and is later said to have been the house of a cutlery merchant.

Even the exterior of the museum is worth seeing. The typical Thuringian-Franconian half-timbered building with Hessian influence was decorated in the facade between the first and second floor with a magnificent diamond band. Inside, the hallway with visible half-timbering, which reaches up to the second floor, is impressive. The Ruhla museum is a listed object and entered in the regional list of thanks. It shows in its 15 exhibition rooms the craft and industrial development from the Middle Ages to the 20th century.

Craftsmanship and inventiveness gave rise to products of world importance in Ruhla. Admirable is also the extensive collection of historical tobacco pipes, which were made in the materials wood, meerschaum, clay and porcelain and not infrequently show extraordinary curiosities. Also on display is a presentation of the culture and way of life of the people of the Ruhla Valley. On display are living and working conditions as well as customs, Ruhla personalities, folklore, a geological collection and a special exhibition on Friedrich Lux.