Perthes-Forum Gotha is located opposite the city library and orangery and therefore in the immediate vicinity of Friedenstein Palace. It was created from 2012 to 2014 in the historical buildings of the Justus Perthes publishing house founded in 1785. Perthes’ important collection is housed in the Perthes-Forum, among others. It was created from the Gotha’s Justus Perthes publishing house’s historical collections and documents the development of cartography and geography in the 19th and 20th century.

The collection also includes genealogical, statistical publications like Gotha’s genealogical directory of royalty and higher nobility, also known as the “Almanach de Gotha” (first edition 1763) or “Der Gotha” (a series of books published by Justus Perthes from 1785 to 1944). This directory of royalty and higher nobility became the most important authority on the classification of Europe’s aristocracy.

The collection holds its own internationally with its cartographic and geographic exhibits; even in the same calibre of great libraries like the Library of Congress in Washington and the British Library in London. Perthes’ collection was acquired by the Free State of Thuringia in 2003 and integrated into the Gotha Research Library.

Furthermore, the Perthes-Forum is used as the home for the “Gotha Baroque Universe” warehouse and workshops as well as Gotha’s Thuringian State Archive.