The Meiningen Museums unite six cultural history museums in the district town of Meiningen. They are the largest museum in southern Thuringia and house the most extensive art collection in Thuringia. The main part with four departments is located in Elisabethenburg Castle, the former residence of the Dukes of Saxe-Meiningen. The castle is located in the west of the historic old town on the Werra. The Meiningen museums belong to the Meiningen-Eisenach Cultural Foundation, which is supported by the Free State of Thuringia, the city of Meiningen and the district of Schmalkalden-Meiningen.
The Meiningen Museums were founded on May 24, 1947 with the merger of the art collections in Elisabethenburg Castle and the Baumbachhaus. The basis was created by the historic interior of the ducal buildings, which was accessible from 1918, and the collections of the Hennebergisch Antiquities Research Association founded by Ludwig Bechstein in 1832, which was renamed the Hennebergisch-Franconian Historical Association in 1935.
