At one of the culturally richest, densest German cities axes Eisenach - Gotha - Erfurt - Weimar - Jena is the Schloss Friedenstein. Duke Ernst I (the Pious) from the Ernestine House of Saxe-Weimar, Gotha chose the residence by inheritance of the newly created Duchy of Saxe-Gotha and had the peace stone from 1643 to 1655 built on the 311 m high Schlossberg. It was the first royal palace after the 30-year war, while peace is the stone represents the largest early baroque palace in Germany (100 x 140 m contour).

The unique art collections consist inter alia from old German and Dutch paintings, sculpture of the medieval and classical period, Ancient Egypt and library, an important coin collection, an extensive range of Prints and Drawings, crafts, and East Asian art from the 20th Century. This collection ranges are presented in historical rooms. Worth seeing is for the lover in the museum exhibition, which shows the origin of today's historical collections in staged development.