Rathaus, the
government buildings, and a statue of Prince Albert (consort of Queen
Victoria), by William Theed the younger (1804-1891). In the
Schloss-platz are the Edinburgh Palace (Palais Edinburg), built in 1881,
the theatre and an equestrian statue of Duke Ernest I. Among the
churches the most remarkable is the Moritzkirche, with a lofty tower.
The educational establishments include a gymnasium, founded in 1604 by
Duke John Casimir (d. 1633) and thus known as the Casimirianum, a
commercial, an agricultural and other schools. The Zeughaus (armoury)
contains the ducal library of 100,000 volumes, and among other public
buildings may be mentioned the Augustenstift, formerly the seat of the
ministerial offices, and the Marstall (royal mews). On a commanding
eminence above the town is the ancient castle of Coburg, dating from the
11th century (see below). In 1781 it was turned into a penitentiary and
lunatic asylum, but in 1835-1838 was completely restored, and now
contains a natural history museum. The most interesting room in this
building is that which was occupied by Luther in 1530, where the
surroundings may have inspired, though (as is now proved) he did not
compose, the famous hymn, _Ein' feste Burg ist unser Gott_; the bed on
which he slept, and the pulpit from which he preached in the old chapel
are shown. Coburg is a place of considerable industry, the chief
branches of the latter being brewing, manufactures of machinery, colours
and porcelain, iron-founding and saw-milling; and there is an important
trade in the cattle reared in the neighbourhood. Among various places of
interest in the vicinity are the ducal residences of Callenberg and
Rosenau, in the latter of which Albert, Prince Consort, was born in
1819; the castle of Lauterburg; and the village of Neuses, with the
house of the poet J. M. F. Ruckert, who died here in 1866, and on the
other side of the river the tomb of the poet Moritz August von Thummel
(1738-1817).

The town of Coburg, first mentioned in a record of 1207, owed its
existence and its name to the castle, and in the 15th and 16th centuries
was of considerable importance as a halting-place on the great trade
route from Nuremberg _via_ Bamberg to the North. In 1245 the castle
became the seat of the elder branch of the counts of Henneberg
(Coburg-Schmalkalden). The countships of Coburg and Schmalkalden passed
by the marriage of Jutta, daughter of Hermann I. (d. 1290), to Otto V.
of Brandenburg