Collections

Friedenstein Castle and the Perthes Forum combine the collections of the duchy of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1640-1825), the collections of the ducal house of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha gathered in Gotha until 1945, and the archival holdings of the cartographic and geographical publishing house Justus Perthes in Gotha. The ducal residence, considered the largest early Baroque palace complex in Germany, the landscape park ranking among the earliest English gardens on the European mainland, the Coin Cabinet, the Ekhof Theater, and the holdings of the Gotha Observatory, the first of its kind in Germany, form a unique ensemble of European court, scholar, and knowledge culture in terms of architecture, gardens, and collections. 

Especially the collections related to the Reformation, numismatics, art history, natural history, and non-European cultures, form, through the interplay of authentically preserved princely rooms, museum artifacts, library and archival holdings, collection contexts of European rank. 

Discover the unique collections, objects, and digital offerings from the archive, the library, research, and museums. A selection is presented here.