The Room where Fritz Reuter was Born @museum.de

F: This cosy little room is a historic site in more ways than one. It was where the mayor's son, Heinrich Ludwig Christian Friedrich Reuter – Fritz for short – was born on the 7th of November 1810 – in the middle of what's known as the "time of the French", in other words, the period of occupation by Napoleon's troops.

M: The pipe stand in the shape of a lyre and the gilded clock are from his parents' household. But the furniture in the Biedermeier style was a later addition, reflecting the fact that this room has been dedicated to the town's great son since before the museum was set up. As early as 1873, that is, during Reuter's lifetime, the town mounted a plaque on the façade of the town hall, mentioning Reuter's birth in this room.

F: And just a few decades after his death, the "Reuterstube", or Reuter parlour, was set up in this room to celebrate the centenary of his birth. It was the first memorial to the writer that was open to the public. However, it was shut down after just a few years.

M: When the town hall was converted into a museum and the town officially became the "Reuterstadt Stavenhagen", this room was permanently established as a memorial to one of the most important poets writing in the Low German language.