Gotha around 1800: Nature – Science – History

Around 1800, Gotha was a court interconnected throughout Europe. Since the founding of the duchy of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1640), the dukes’ collecting interests gave rise to extensive collections of European significance, which largely remain unexplored but shape the image of the Friedenstein Castle today. These collections offer a wide range of research opportunities. Friedenstein Castle’s natural history collections are particularly outstanding. Today, these collections are preserved by the Friedenstein Castle Foundation and the Gotha Research Library. They are essentially supplemented by the records preserved in the Thuringian State Archive of Gotha.

The project aims at investigating the natural history collections in close collaboration with partner institutions. At the same time, a digital research infrastructure is being established to consolidate the digital objects, collections, and resources in the individual consortium institutions and to make them accessible worldwide for research and public use.