Molsdorf Castle

Castle Museum

Molsdorf Castle and its park are located in the district of Molsdorf in the southwest of the city of Erfurt. A moated castle is documented here as early as the 16th century, which was converted into a representative Late Baroque castle in the 18th century.

History

When Gustav Adolph von Gotter, a noble diplomat of bourgeois descent, acquired the estate in 1734, he had it converted into a Baroque pleasure castle. The garden facade was redesigned, and work began on reconfiguring the interiors. The architect Gottfried Heinrich Krohne, who worked for several Thuringian princely courts, was probably involved in the designs.

The ballroom and the adjoining rooms on the Beletage are decorated with magnificent stuccowork and high-quality wall and ceiling paintings. Portrait paintings integrated into the wall paneling depict rulers and high-ranking personalities with whom Gotter had come into contact in the course of his diplomatic activities, thus demonstrating his claim to social rank. As early as 1748, Gotter had to sell the castle again. After several changes of ownership, the castle was opened to the public as a museum in 1966. In addition to the historical room furnishings, the museum's newly created collections are also presented. With the Erotica collection, which was set up in the castle at the beginning of the 1980s, the castle houses a focal collection that is unique for Thuringian museums and does credit to its reputation as Gotter's pleasure castle. However, this is not a display collection and, therefore, cannot be viewed permanently but sometimes as part of special exhibitions. Works by the painter and graphic artist Otto Knöpfer (1911-1993) are presented on the mezzanine floor of the house. In 1998, the museum took over the estate of this artist, who holds an important place in the art history of Thuringia in the 20th century, especially with his landscapes and still lifes. Concerts in the ballroom, special exhibitions and lectures supplement the museum’s permanent offerings.