The famous Low German poet Fritz Reuter had an Italian neo-Renaissance house built at the foot of Wartburg Castle between 1866 and 1868, where he lived until his death in 1874. After the town of Eisenach purchased the Wagner collection "Oesterlein Collection" with around 20,000 objects in 1895, the house was opened in 1897 under the name "Reuter-Wagner-Museum". On display are furniture and parts of Fritz Reuter's legacy and the Richard Wagner exhibition with pictures and busts, letters and writings as well as an extensive library consisting of around 5,000 volumes.