The park and gardens surrounding Friedenstein Palace are a testament to various epochs of garden art, unique in this complexity within Thuringia. The Ducal Park in Gotha contains two particular highlights, a late Baroque garden and one of the earliest landscape parks in the English style.
At a glance
Address
Castle Museum, Ekhof Theatre, Ducal Museum Gotha
Schlossplatz 1 | Friedenstein Foundation Gotha
99867 Gotha Website
Friends’ associations
Friends of the Friedenstein Castle Art Collections, Gotha e.V. Website
Castle Museum, Ekhof Theatre, Gotha Ducal Museum Closed on Mondays (except public holidays)
November to March 10.00 – 16.00
April to October 10.00 – 17.00
Closed on 24 December and 31 December
Park/Garden
Park grounds freely accessible
Castle Church During church services and events
Casemates Daily guided tours
Exhibition at the Orangery in 2026
Closed from 26 to 28 June 2026 due to the heat.
The English Garden
The gardens belonging to the palace attained a new quality during the reign of Prince Ernst II, who assumed office in 1772. Only 20 years after the creation of the cost-intensive formal garden still entirely shaped by the Baroque understanding of garden design, a new era had already begun in Gotha. The English Garden to the south of the Schlossberg (Palace Mountain) is considered, alongside Wörlitz, to be among the earliest landscape parks on the European mainland. This remarkable achievement was thanks to the progressive outlook of Duke Ernst II of Saxe‑Gotha‑Altenburg, who brought to Gotha the garden artist John Haverfield from Kew Gardens, directly from the mother country of the landscape garden style. According to his plans, a park was created with gently curving paths, varied, lively landscape scenes, and a lake that can never be entirely viewed at once.
In the 19th century, the entire palace complex was extensively laid out, with the individual gardens merging to form the Ducal Park. In 1864, on the site of the former kitchen garden, the Natural History Museum was erected. The areas to the north and south in front of the approaches to the palace, created only in the 20th century, have been remodelled several times.
Orangery Parterre with Orangery House and Laurel House
One of the oldest surviving garden features of Friedenstein Palace is the orangery garden laid out to the east of the palace from 1747. The orangery parterre on the eastern slope of the Schlossberg was created in 1749, strictly symmetrical and regular in form, flanked by greenhouses and imposing buildings for the overwintering of exotic plants. In summer, the countless valuable potted specimens, including various citrus varieties and pineapples cultivated in Gotha with particular devotion, were set out in the garden parterre, arranged like an amphitheatre.
Garden
From 1772 onwards, much of the palace was dismantled, which also freed up space for creating gardens. The first documented garden was the so‑called Palace Rampart Garden in front of the east side of the palace, which likely disappeared with the de‑fortification in 1772. One of the oldest surviving gardens at Friedenstein Palace is the Orangery Garden laid out from 1747. The palace gardens gained a new quality under Prince Ernst II, who took office in 1772. Returning from a journey to England with abundant inspiration, he commissioned the creation of an English Garden centred on an elongated pond. On the site of the former kitchen garden, the Natural History Museum was erected in 1864. The areas to the north and south in front of the approaches to the Palace, created only in the 20th century, have been remodelled several times. The gardens surrounding Friedenstein Palace bear witness to different eras of garden art and are unparalleled in this diversity within Thuringia.
