Bach House Eisenach

Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Eisenach in 1685 into a family that had supplied musicians to the region for generations. The Bachhaus opened in 1907 as the first museum devoted to him, in a house long believed to be his birthplace; research has since shown the birth house was elsewhere, and the museum states this plainly. Its collection includes around four hundred instruments, and a live demonstration is given roughly every hour on historic keyboards including a clavichord, harpsichord, spinet and organ, which is what most visitors come for. A modern extension of 2007 holds a room where recordings play in a seated installation.

What you actually see

• The hourly demonstration - historic keyboards played live to visitors.
• The instrument collection - around four hundred pieces, many playable.
• The corrected attribution - a museum that states it is not the birth house.
• The listening room - a seated installation of recorded works.

When to go

Year-round; demonstrations run roughly hourly through the day and are the main reason to time a visit. Bach festival events fall in spring.

Honest expectations

The building is not actually Bach's birthplace, as the museum says. Demonstrations are short and in German. It closes on a few holidays.

Nearby

The Wartburg stands above the town; the Drachenschlucht is south.