The fact that Gotha’s dukes staged their Friedenstein Palace as a pre-eminent centre of artistic endeavour is not just made clear by their passion for collecting. One unique monument to the German theatre culture is the theatre built at the palace in 1687 with fully preserved Baroque stage technology, which allows for spectacular scenery changes purely mechanically using a complicated system of ropes and main shafts and even manages impressive effects like wind and thunder – a dream for admirers of Baroque theatre! The precious wooden apparatuses have to be protected, which is why the theatre only puts on performances during the Ekhof festival in the summer. This treasure can be visited as the theatre museum the rest of the year.

www.ekhof-festival.de