The research and development project of the Sammlungs- und Forschungsverbund focuses on Gotha as a centre of natural history research with a European-wide network. Around 1800, research and collections on astronomy and geodesy, mineralogy and palaeontology, conchyliology and ornithology were created in Gotha. The project examines what findings were made, which actors were involved and what status Gotha's research was able to claim within scholarly networks.

The project also utilises the digital humanities tool FactGrid. In the spirit of citizen science, data is entered into the database with the help of Gotha citizens, which can then be used for further scientific research. In this way, a wealth of data is gradually being created that makes it possible to reconstruct "Gotha around 1800". In the course of time, it will be possible, for example, to ask the database where shoemakers lived in Gotha and where government employees lived. The aim is to create the basis for a large collective card index. Its subject: historical Gotha.