Summer Palais Greiz / Satiricum

“Maison de belle retraite" is the name which Prince Heinrich XI Reuss (1722 - 1800) had inscribed in the pediment of his Summer Palais built in Early Classicist style. The former orangery and the royal reception rooms and living accommodation on the mezzanine floor are decorated with rich stucco work dating from the transition period from Rococo to Early Classicism. Until 1918, the Palais was the summer residence of the Princes of Reuss Older Line. In February 1921, the royal library and the royal collection of copper engravings from the Upper Castle were donated to the government as the “Foundation of the Older Line of the Reuss Dynasty” and taken to the Summer Palais as their future home. In 1922, the Greiz State Collection of Books and Copper Engravings was opened as a museum in the Summer Palais. In 1975, the national caricature collection of the GDR was founded, called the Greizer Satiricum, and a unique collection of GDR caricatures had been assembled by 1989. Since 1990, works by German-language caricaturists have been collected in this department. So, historic and contemporary caricatures are the third main focus of the museum, together with books and copper engravings.
Today, exhibitions of items from the Satiricum, concerts and other events are held in the Garden Room. Different and changing exhibitions from the Old Collection are shown in the rooms of the bel-étage. The mezzanine floor, the former living quarters of the royal family, houses the library, reading room and restoration workshop today.