The Sommerpalais combines three different collections. It opened to the public as a museum in 1922 after a legal settlement arranged for the ownership of the collection – the princely library and the collection of engravings – to be transferred from the House of Reuss to the Land of Thuringia.

Taking a considerable stock of historical caricatures as a starting point, the »Greizer SATIRICUM« was founded and since then contemporary caricatures have been collected and preserved in the museum.