Seventeenth-century machinery
Wooden pulleys and ropes that change the whole set in seconds, still working.
Stefan C. Hoja โ CC BY-SA 4.0 ยท Krzysztof Golik โ CC BY-SA 4.0 ยท Krzysztof Golik โ CC BY-SA 4.0 ยท Krzysztof Golik โ CC BY-SA 4.0
A European war from 1618 to 1648 that began as a religious conflict between Catholics and Protestants in the German lands and became a political struggle involving most of Europe's powers. Most of its fighting took place on German soil and devastated it: losses are estimated at around a third of the population in some regions through killing, famine and plague. It was ended by the Peace of Westphalia, which established the concept of state sovereignty in international law.
The distance is considerable โ about two hundred and fifty kilometres โ so it is a full day or an overnight. If historic theatre or the baroque interests you, then yes without hesitation, as what it holds is globally rare. If you simply want a fine palace, Bavaria has nearer ones. It combines with the Wartburg at nearby Eisenach on a two-day trip into Thuringia.
Sign in to write your review of this place.
No reviews yet โ be the first.
A vast seventeenth-century palace above the town of Gotha, among the largest early baroque buildings in Germany. Its name means Stone of Peace, and building began in 1643 โ that is, in the closing years of the Thirty Years' War, which devastated central Europe and killed close to a third of the population in some German regions. The name was a declaration of intent: a building begun before the war had ended. What makes it exceptional is the Ekhof Theatre, the court theatre inside the palace dating from 1683, among the oldest baroque theatres in the world still holding its original working scene-change machinery: a wooden system of pulleys and ropes that changes the entire set in seconds, as designed more than three centuries ago. The number of such theatres surviving worldwide can be counted on two hands. The palace also holds an art museum with a strong painting collection, a natural history museum and a historic library. Gotha itself is quiet and little visited, and that is part of its appeal.
Wooden pulleys and ropes that change the whole set in seconds, still working.
Baroque theatres with original machinery can be counted on two hands worldwide.
Gotha is little visited, and that is part of the appeal.
Above the town of Gotha, Thuringia