Editing Gotha (section)

=== Early modern period ===
[[File:Gotha1572.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Gotha in 1572]]
[[File:Ernstderfromme.jpg|thumb|180px|Memorial to Ernest the Pious in front of Friedenstein Castle]]
[[File:HA Koenig Die hochfürstliche Residentz Friedenstein und Hauptstadt Gotha ubs G 0951 III.jpg|thumb|180px|Gotha and the new Friedenstein Castle in 1730]]
[[File:Cup and saucer MET SF06 337ab.jpg|thumb|180px|[[Neoclassicism|Neoclassical]] cup with saucer from Gotha, late 18th century, hard-paste porcelain]]

The [[German Reformation|Reformation]] was introduced in Gotha in 1524 and the castle was rebuilt as a larger fortress between 1530 and 1541. Gotha was already part of the Ernestine Wettins territory after the 1485 [[Treaty of Leipzig]]. However, the Ernestines' loss of power after the [[Schmalkaldic War]] in 1547, the [[Treaty of Erfurt]] in 1572, when the city became part of [[Saxe-Coburg]], and the [[Thirty Years' War]] resulted in Gotha's decline. The local castle, ''Grimmenstein'', was razed by Imperial troops in 1572.<ref name="Klauss"/>{{rp|74}}

The turnaround was brought about by the selection of Gotha as a ducal residence in the 1640 territorial partition, when [[Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha|Ernest the Pious]] founded the duchy of [[Saxe-Gotha]]. The strongly Protestant and absolutist sovereign quickly began to reorganize his small state (even before the war had ended) and in particular fostered the school system, for example by introducing [[compulsory education]] up to the age of 12 in 1642.<ref name="Klauss">{{cite book|last=Klauß|first=Jochen|title=Thüringen - Literarische Streifzüge (German)|publisher=Artemis & Winkler (Patmos)|year=2009|isbn=978-3-538-07280-0}}</ref>{{rp|72–73}} This was the origin of the often noted liberal education of the Gotha citizenry and the following cultural heyday.

[[Veit Ludwig von Seckendorff]] was one of numerous experienced and loyal civil servants employed by the duke. Seckendorff was considered one of the most able and influential thinkers on administration and public law of his time. His book ''Der teutsche Fürstenstaat'' (1656), written by order of Ernest, served for decades as a standard work in teaching political science at Protestant universities in Germany.<ref name="Klauss"/>{{rp|73–74}}

[[Friedenstein Castle]] was built between 1643 and 1654 and is one of the first large Baroque residence castles in Germany.<ref name="Klauss"/>{{rp|74}} Between 1657 and 1676, the city received a stronger fortification, which was demolished between 1772 and 1811. In their place, a park around Friedenstein and a boulevard around the city were established. Some important scientific institutions were the ducal library (today's ''[[Forschungsbibliothek Gotha]]'' as part of the [[University of Erfurt]]), founded in 1650, the "coin cabinet" (1712), the "art and natural collection", basis of today's museums, and the [[Gotha Observatory]] at Seeberg mountain, established 1788. The Gotha porcelain manufactory (established in 1767) was famous around 1800 for their [[faience]]s.

In 1774, the actor group led by Conrad (or Konrad) [[Konrad Ekhof|Ekhof]], called "the father of German acting", came from Weimar to Gotha. He began working at the ''Schlosstheater'' and became ''Direktor'' of the first ever German court theatre (founded in 1683), while acting in many plays himself. Having turned it into one of the leading theatres in Germany, after his death in 1778 the fame of the theatre declined rapidly.<ref name="Klauss"/>{{rp|82–84}}

The ''[[Almanach de Gotha]]'', a directory of European royalty and nobility, was first published in 1763 and [[Justus Perthes]] founded his science publishing company in 1785. [[Joseph Meyer (publisher)|Joseph Meyer]] followed in 1826 by founding the ''[[Bibliographisches Institut]]'', one of the two leading encyclopedia publishers in the German language besides the [[Brockhaus Enzyklopädie|Brockhaus]] and [[Adolf Stieler]] first published his ''[[Stielers Handatlas|Handatlas]]'' in Gotha in 1816. [[Adam Weishaupt|Johann Adam Weishaupt]], the founder of the order of the Illuminati, died in Gotha in 1830. It was also during this time, that the city developed a sizeable Jewish population.