Ekhof Theater
Ekhof Theater occupies the western tower of Friedenstein Castle in Gotha, where a discreet chamber preserves the world’s oldest playable baroque stage. Wooden machinery from 1681 to 1683 still fills the floor, ready to turn a ballroom into shifting rooms, landscapes, or cities.
Twelve to fifteen people once worked around the stage, moving large wooden trolleys through floor slots and operating hand-cranked wind and thunder machines. The theatre began as a private setting for the duke’s family and officials, then opened to the public in 1775 under Conrad Ekhof. Shakespeare, Lessing, Diderot, and Molière entered its repertoire, while a permanent company gave German court theatre new structure.
Each summer, the Ekhof Festival brings operas and dramas back to the original stage, using its historic scenery routes. Look for the trapdoors: they can still make performers appear and disappear.
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