Schlossmuseum Molsdorf

The palace museum offers guided tours of the state rooms on the upper floor. The history of the palace is primarily shaped by the Prussian diplomat and bon vivant Imperial Count Gustav Adolf von Gotter, who celebrated life here from 1733 to 1748. After the subsequent frequent changes of ownership quickly allowed the castle to fall into disrepair, it has been restored for the public since 1966 and its history has been restored.

Particularly worth seeing here are the estate of the Thuringian artist Otto Knöpfer and a collection of 20th century erotica.

Molsdorf Castle Park

The park at Molsdorf Castle vividly embodies the transition from baroque garden to landscape park. The castle was acquired by Gustav Adolph Count von Gotter in 1733, who had the existing moated castle converted into a pleasure palace by the Saxon-Weimar court architect Krohne. Gotter also had a baroque garden laid out with a Hercules fountain, cascade, orangery, ornamental flowerbeds and rich sculptural decorations. Gotter had to sell the estate due to financial difficulties. The subsequent owners had the costly Baroque garden converted into a more easily maintained landscape park by the Gotha court gardener Johann Rudolph Eyserbeck.

The layout of the Baroque garden, which was one of the most artistically significant gardens in Thuringia at the time, can still be seen in the lawns today.

Guided tours of the park are available on request from the Thuringian Palaces & Gardens Foundation.