Erfurt/Gotha Digital Historical Library

The Gotha Research Library, a scientific institution affiliated with the University of Erfurt, conducts and supports research activities as part of the national and international early modern and modern research community. The library forms a part of the cultural heritage of both Thuringia and Europe with its collections of cultural and historical importance; It collects, preserves, researches and makes available to the scientific world and society its assets in original and digital formats. The library in Friedenstein Palace; It is part of the collections from the ducal dynasties of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1640-1825) and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1826-1945) and, together with the museum collections, secret archive and park landscape, forms a unique entity throughout Europe. The library houses approximately 1 million physical objects and 11,700 manuscripts, including 350,000 printed works dating from the 16th to the 19th centuries. The core of the collection consists of manuscripts and autographs belonging to the cultural history of early modern Protestantism; The collection of Oriental manuscripts, numbering approximately 3,500 pieces, is one of the largest in Germany. The institution, which also preserves important archives such as the letters of German immigrants to America in the 19th century, conducts scholarship programs together with the Gotha Research Center and hosts academic events in its historical venues.