Luisa Dorothea von Saxe-Coburg Altena

Gotha, 10/8/2020 – Gotha once was rich, very rich. When we cycle around, the town is one big building site. The Neumarkt and Hauptmarkt are full of bulldozers and diggers. Thüringen prepares to present itself to tourists in all its splendour. I hope COVID-19 does not put a spanner in the works. We climb the Schloßberg and crisscross through Schloß Friedenstein, the Orangery and the Park. Friedenstein was the center of power of the house of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, of which the descendants found comfortable positions in royal houses around Europe. Albert married Victoria, later Queen Victoria and Leopold married Louise-Marie, the daughter of the French king Louis Philippe. This marriage of convenience served to put a king on the throne of the newly created Belgium. In the 18th century Luisa Dorothea von Saxe Coburg Altena gave a cultural flair to the town, she counted Voltaire and Frederick the Great amongst her friends. In the leaflet of the Schloßmuseum it says she was ‘voller Esprit und Wissensdurst!’. She had nine children of which only three survived her. Her statue is on top of the Schloßberg. We go down to the Hauptmarkt and by 6 p.m. most shops are closed and the choice of restaurants is poor. Only the terrace of Bellini catches a ray of evening sun and seems to be busy. We measure the COVID-19 distance from a neighbouring table and take a seat. I order Thüringer Bratwurst. Italians are the most flexible business people around!


Schloß Friedenstein, Gotha (photo FDC)

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