Gotha combines a historic old town with art collections and a distinctive theatrical history. When planning your stay, you can choose different focuses: explore the city on foot, learn about its historical periods, or take a closer look at art and theatre.
Explore the old town and Gotha on foot
The historic old town is characterised by market squares, narrow streets and numerous lovingly renovated townhouses. Three newly signposted walking routes invite you to discover Gotha on foot. Public city tours explore the city’s history and its different periods. These offer two distinct ways to explore: the walking routes focus on discovering the city on foot, while the tours provide historical context. Which one you focus on depends on whether you would rather explore Gotha through its routes or its history.
Art collections and theatrical history
The Ducal Museum Gotha houses art treasures from across Europe and beyond, spanning from the modern era to antiquity. One special collection is dedicated to works by the French neoclassical sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon: outside France, this is the world’s largest collection of his works. The wider travel destination of Gotha also includes the painting “Gothaer Liebespaar” in the Ducal Museum.
The Ekhof Theatre at Friedenstein Palace also brings together several aspects of Gotha’s theatrical history. It has functioning original stage machinery from the 17th century and was founded in 1775 by Duke Ernst II as the first court theatre in Germany. The Ekhof Festival features plays, concerts and theatre tours. If you would like to take the festival into account when planning your trip, check the current event dates.
More historical traces in the city
The Augustinian Monastery of Gotha and its associated Augustinian Church are more than 700 years old. Before the daughter foundation in Erfurt, the monastery was the first of its kind in Thuringia. Gotha’s Orangery includes a garden. Together with the old town, museum and theatre, this historic setting shows different sides of the city, without requiring you to limit your stay to a single cultural theme.
In the wider travel destination of Gotha
Beyond the city, the wider travel destination of Gotha offers further landscapes and cultural themes. To the south, the district of Gotha extends as far as the Rennsteig, and to the west, as far as the 916.5-metre-high Großer Inselsberg. In Friedrichroda, the Marienglashöhle takes you through a 110-metre-long tunnel with geological windows revealing rock layers millions of years old. In its crystal grotto, gypsum crystals up to 90 centimetres long sparkle. The tunnel and crystal grotto offer two different insights into the region’s geology.
The Thuringian Forest Railway is another regional landmark: its route runs from Gotha via Waltershausen and Friedrichroda to Tabarz. Check the current timetable when planning a specific journey. The Bach Stammhaus in Wechmar displays models of the original places where the Bach family worked in Wechmar. On Johann Sebastian Bach’s birthday, visitors are invited to a Bach-style coffee gathering; check the current dates if you would like to plan for this occasion. These examples complement Gotha’s urban highlights with regional themes of landscape, music and culture.
Discover more destinations: Waltershausen, Laucha, Finsterbergen, Emleben, Leinatal, Gierstädt, Ballstädt, Friemar.
Go to the overview of the wider travel destination: Gotha.
