Extraordinary collections are preserved in their historical context at the Friedenstein Castle and the Perthes Forum in Gotha. Since 1640, these collections have been compiled and are now maintained by the Gotha Research Library of the University of Erfurt, the Thuringian State Archive – Gotha State Archive, and the Friedenstein Castle Foundation in Gotha. The collections are exceptional in their completeness, density, and diversity. They form the basis for the activities of Gotha as a collection and research centre.
GOTHA.digital is the integrated search, presentation, and research platform of the Friedenstein Castle in Gotha. The portal brings together digital objects, collections, and services from the archive, library, museum, and the Research Institute for Transcultural Studies / Perthes Collection and the Gotha Research Centre. GOTHA.digital enables cross-collection and cross-institutional searchs as well as curated insights into collections for both academia and the general public.
The concept and implementation were developed in close cooperation with the Thuringian University and State Library Jena and in technical cooperation with the Cooperative Library Network in Göttingen. As the state digitization center for the cultural sector in Thuringia, the Thuringian University and State Library Jena ensures the permanent system maintenance, storage, and long-term archiving of digital data.
GOTHA.digital was funded by the Thuringian Ministry of Science from 2020 to 2022. The digitalization activities of the Foundation Friedenstein Gotha “Gotha transdigital” accompany the project. They are financed by the European Regional Development Fund, the Commissioner of the Federal Government for Culture and Media, and the Thuringian State Chancellery.
Data and objects in the search index
GOTHA.digital currently offers data and objects from nine databases and portals:
| Database / portal (primary system) | Content | Scope of data transfer | Providing institution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Digitales Archiv des Landesarchivs Thüringen | Digitised archival materials | Core metadata | Landesarchiv Thüringen – Staatsarchiv Gotha |
| Digitale Bibliothek Thüringen | Open access publications | Core metadata | Gotha Research Library |
| Digitale Historische Bibliothek Erfurt/Gotha | Digitised manuscripts, prints, maps | Core metadata | Gotha Research Library |
| Imdas | Art collections, ethnographies | Full metadata | Friedenstein Castle Foundation |
| K10plus | Books, periodicals, electronic media | Core metadata | Gotha Research Library |
| Kalliope | Manuscript collections and autographs | Core metadata | Gotha Research Library |
| Journals@UrMEL | Newspapers and magazines | Core metadata | Gotha Research Library |
| Qalamos | Oriental manuscripts | Core metadata | Gotha Research Library |
| RISM | Music manuscripts and prints | Core metadata | Gotha Research Library |
The developments are ongoing
We continuously supplement and improve GOTHA.digital. We continually integrate more objects, collections, and services. Helpful tools and texts, and object links are also being added. GOTHA.digital will be available in English in the future. We are expanding GOTHA.digital into an integrated research platform.
Ethical guidelines
GOTHA.digital strives to ensure an ethically responsible handling of data. The scholarly work with historical objects includes the documentation of their titles, classification schemes, and descriptions. These may contain racist and discriminatory terminology. The partners of GOTHA.digital critically reflect on these aspects of historical research and current digitization practices. They explore together the provenance history of their collections and their digital presentation. The results of these reflection processes will be made transparent in GOTHA.digital in the future.
Feedback and contact
Do you have any suggestions or questions about our services or have you discovered any errors? Then feel free to write to us. We will be happy to get back to you. To provide feedback and comments on individual objects, you can use the feedback function directly on the object records.
Project Participants
Gotha Research Library
Project Management: Dr. Kathrin Paasch
Coordination: Dr. Hendrikje Carius
Participants: Eva-Maria Ansorg, Dr. Dietrich Hakelberg, Dr. Feras Krimsti, Linda Maack, Marc Eric Mitzscherling, PD Dr. Monika E. Müller, Evelyn Pätzold, Dr. Sascha Salatowsky, Anke Seifert, Sergej Tan, Dr. Petra Weigel
Research Centre "Transcultural Studies / Gotha Perthes Collection"
Project Management: Prof. Dr. Iris Schröder
Participants: Claudia Berger
Gotha Research Centre
Project Management: Prof. Dr. Martin Mulsow, Dr. Markus Meumann
Participants: Dr. Annika Goldenbaum, Dr. Olaf Simons
Friedenstein Castle Foundation
Project Management: Dr. Tobias Pfeifer-Helke
Coordination: Josefine Frank, Kathrin Hitschfeld
Participants: Dr. Friedegund Freitag, Marco Karthe, Anna Nimmrich, Marjanko Pilekiç, Judith Tralles, Dr. Timo Trümper, Dr. Elisa Schmidt-Winkler, Manuel Vojtech, Uta Wallenstein, Anne Kaestner
Thüringer Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Jena
Projektleitung: Michael Lörzer, Dr. Andreas Christoph
Koordination: Susanne Rückert
Mitarbeit: Michel Büchner, Karsten Leydolph, Karsten Sommer, Daniel Pelz
Verbundzentrale des GBV
Projektleitung: Frank Dührkohp
Webgestaltung: Thomas Konradi
Webentwicklung, Datenintegration: JUSTORANGE - Agentur für Informationsästhetik, Jena
C4 Berlin Ideas and Experience GmbH
Konzeption, Entwicklung und Umsetzung einer interaktiven WebApp für das virtuelle Münzkabinett
Partner
Gotha Research Library
Address:
Schlossplatz 1
D-99867 Gotha
Contact
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The Gotha Research Library is one of the largest and most significant historical libraries in the Federal Republic of Germany. It preserves a unique European-wide collection on the cultural and intellectual history of the early modern and modern periods. It is a scientific institution of the University of Erfurt and also serves as a scientific information and service facility. It is known for its collections which include the early modern collection, the oriental manuscript collection, the cartographic and geographical collection of Perthes, and the collection of letters of German emigrants to America.
Friedenstein Castle Foundation
Address:
Schlossplatz 1
D-99867 Gotha
Contact
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The Friedenstein Castle Foundation in Gotha brings together the museum’s art, historical, and natural history collections of the Castle Museum, the Ducal Museum, the Historical Museum, the Natural History Museum, and the Ekhof Theater. The art and natural science collections largely stem from the Art Cabinet established by Duke Ernst I of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg in 1653, which was systematically expanded by his successors. Here, the thinking and actions of the Baroque and Enlightenment periods can be traced magnificently. The historic castle rooms and collections are overseen by the Friedenstein Castle Foundation in Gotha, established on January 1, 2004.
Gotha Research Centre
Address:
Schlossplatz 2
D-99867 Gotha
Contact
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The Gotha Research Centre is a central institution of the University of Erfurt. In connection with the holdings of the Gotha Research Library, it serves as a research center for cultural and knowledge history of modern times from an interdisciplinary perspective. It is a workplace and a meeting place for national and international research.
Research Centre "Transcultural Studies / Gotha Perthes Collection"
Address:
Schloss Friedenstein – Pagenhaus
Schlossplatz 1
D-99867 Gotha
Contact
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The Research Institute for Transcultural Studies / Perthes Collection sees itself as a platform for interdisciplinary research on the historical development of today’s global world. The research of the center is based on the Gotha collection contexts since the late 18th century. It focuses particularly on the Perthes Collection preserved by the Gotha Research Library, which comprises the legacy of the Justus Perthes Publishing House founded in Gotha in 1785 and its successors.
Landesarchiv Thüringen – Staatsarchiv Gotha
Address:
Justus-Perthes-Str. 5
D-99867 Gotha
Contact
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The State Archive of Thuringia was created by the merger of the Thuringia State Archives of Altenburg, Gotha, Greiz, Meiningen and Rudolstadt and the Main State Archives of Weimar on July 13, 2016. The State Archiv of Thuringia – State Archive of Gotha holds, among other things, the archives (files, minutes, accounts, letters, inventories, etc.) of the Secret Archive of the Duchy of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, founded in 1640/41.
Thuringian State und University Library
Address:
Bibliotheksplatz 2
D-07743 Jena
Contact
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The Thuringian University and State Library in Jena (ThULB) is the academic library of Friedrich Schiller University in Jena and serves as the state library with central responsibilities for the Free State of Thuringia. Besides providing traditional media-based information services, the ThULB offers a range of services in the area of open science (including open access), digital publishing, and research data management. It coordinates and develops central services for the academic library landscape in Thuringia and, as the state digitization centre, in cooperation with libraries, archives, and museums, supports the digital transformation in the cultural sector.
Head Office of the GBV Common Library Network
Address:
Platz der Göttinger Sieben 1
D-37073 Göttingen
Contact
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The GBV is the joint library network of the seven German states of Bremen, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein, Thuringia, and the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation (SPK). The GBV Cooperative Library Network Centre is the cataloguing and service center for scientific and public libraries and research facilities in the participating states and the SPK. Its responsibility is to establish a framework for coordinated library automation, to develop innovative library and information services, and to promote their application.