Friedhof II, Cemetery in Gotha, Germany

Friedhof II is a cemetery in Gotha, Germany, featuring historical gravestones and monuments arranged along winding paths through landscaped grounds. The burial ground closed for new interments in 1883 after a municipal decision based on public health concerns.

Friedhof II, also called Mittlerer Gottesacker, was laid out in 1757 just north of the older Friedhof I, which had run out of space after more than 200 years. Its first burial was a Prussian cavalry captain shot by an Austrian Pandur on 19 September 1757 at Schlichte. Old Gotha families long preferred their existing graves in Friedhof I, which closed only in 1874; Friedhof II itself was closed for burials by a city council decision of 28 April 1883.

The gravestones show how Gotha's wealthy families buried their dead and what artistic styles they preferred across many generations. They reveal social values and tastes that shaped the city over a long period.

The grounds are now a park-like area entered from Eisenacher Straße, where the walled-up Pestpförtchen with its weathered 1554 date sits left of the entrance. The perimeter wall was rebuilt in 2014 (west half) and 2016 (east half, including the gate). The former mortuary of 1831, a plastered building with a tiled roof, stands empty.

A single gravestone of Ernst Wilhelm Arnoldi was reinstalled in 1993 and stands today as the sole remaining monument on the former cemetery grounds. This solitary stone serves as a reminder of the site's history and one family's importance to the city.