Brahms House: the most northerly musician museum in the country

General information:

At the age of 32, Johannes Brahms wrote to his father, saying, “I can think better in Heide than in some towns I’ve lived in longer.” Brahms House, the most northerly musician museum in the country, now bears witness to his connection to his parents’ countryside home.

It can be found in Lüttenheid, the former petit bourgeois and workers’ district of Heide, just a few minutes’ walk from the central market square. The house was owned by the Brahms family between 1819 and 1887 and, since 1990, has been used by the Brahms Society of Schleswig-Holstein as a museum and venue for concerts and presentations.

The Brahms House in Heide is a place of remembrance of the great composer. It is home to the permanent exhibition ‘Johannes Brahms – North German Roots and Connections’, which sheds light on Johannes Brahms’ ancestors in Heide and the important stages of his life. It boasts not only furniture from the 19th century but also numerous photos, facsimiles and pieces of sheet music, as well as portraits, busts and even the death mask of Brahms himself. The highlight of the museum collection is a Rietmüller square piano dating back to 1855. There is also a backlit canvas of Wilhelm Novak’s 1904 watercolour of the view from Brahms’ music room from his flat in Karlsgasse in Vienna.