7 - The Court of Saxony-Gotha-Altenburg

Summary

FOR OVER THREE HUNDRED YEARS, Gotha was the residential town of the dukes of Saxony-Gotha and Saxony-Gotha-Altenburg as well as Saxony-Coburg and Gotha. Saxony-Gotha was founded in 1639, with Duke Ernst I (1601–1675), later known as ‘der Fromme’ (the Pious), elevating Gotha to the rank of residential town on 9 April 1640. Throughout his reign, this prince focused on promoting the overall welfare of Saxony-Gotha and its subjects, eliminating the devastation wrought by the Thirty Years' War, and establishing a functional state. He thought of his court primarily as a ruler's household and led a virtuous existence that served his subjects as a model for their own lives, thus making Saxony-Gotha a prime example of the so-called ‘hausväterlicher Hof’. Significantly, Duke Ernst gave the name Friedenstein (‘Stone of Peace’) to the residential palace he had erected between 1643 and 1655, which replaced its predecessor, Castle Grimmenstein (‘Stone of Wrath’):

Denn der erste Grundstein, der zum Fürstlichen Schlosse Friedenstein geleget wurde, war zugleich der Grundstein von der Friedensteinischen Schloß-Kirche, und ward Anno 1643 den 26. Octobr. Mittags um 12 Uhr an der Ecke gegen Morgen, wo die Kirche noch stehet, 52 Schuhe tief in die Erden geleget, auch der Anfang sothaner Arbeit Nachmittage 3 Uhr vom Herzog selbst, indem er auf einer Leiter hinab stiegen, in Augenschein genommen. Wiewohlen sich nun diesem Kirch- und Schloß-bau nicht geringe Hindernisse in den Weg legten, … dennoch … im September 1646 die Kirche eingeweyhet …