The Almanach de Gotha (German: Gothaischer Hofkalender) is a directory of Europe's royalty and higher nobility, also including the major governmental, military and diplomatic corps, as well as statistical data by country.

The second portion, called the Annuaire diplomatique et statistique ("Diplomatic and Statistical Yearbook"), provided demographic and governmental information by nation, similar to other almanacs.

Until 1810 these sovereign houses were listed alongside such families and entities as Barbiano-Belgiojoso, Clary-Aldringen, Colloredo-Mansfeld, Fürstenberg, the Emperor, Genoa, Gonzaga, Hatzfeldt, Jablonowski, Kinsky, Ligne, Paar, Radziwill, Starhemberg, Thurn and Taxis, Turkey, Venice, the Order of Malta and the Teutonic Knights.

In the third section were members of such non-reigning but historically notable princely or ducal families such as Rohan, Orsini, Ursel, Norfolk, Czartoryski, Galitzine, La Rochefoucauld, Kinsky, Radziwill, Merode, Dohna and Alba.

Other deposed European dynasties (e.g. Arenberg, Biron, Dadiani, Boncompagni-Ludovisi, Giray, Murat) did not benefit from a similar interpretation of their historical status in the almanac.

Many princely or ducal families were listed only in its third, non-dynastic section or were excluded altogether, evoking criticism in the 20th century from such genealogists as Jean-Engelbert, Duke d'Arenberg, William Addams Reitwiesner and Cyril Toumanoff[5][6] the latter commenting that the changes displayed "pan-German triumphalism"[7]

The House of France must be referred to as in the [French] Imperial Almanac; there must be no further mention of the Comte de Lille, nor of any German prince other than those retained by the Articles of Confederation of the Rhine.

If other almanacs are printed in my allies' realms with inappropriate references to the Bourbons and the House of France, instruct my ministers to make it known that you have taken note, and that this is to be changed by next year.

"[8]The response of the publishers was to humour Napoleon by producing two editions: one for France, with the recently ennobled, and another which included dynasties deposed since abolition of the Holy Roman Empire.

A merged version, whose first section (Princely houses) included recently reigning dynasties but also the titulature of families that lost sovereignty after the fall of Napoleon in 1815, remained in publication as Gothaischer Hofkalender (Gothaic court calendar).

This format has since been widely replicated in dynastic compilations (e.g. Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Fürstliche Häuser, Burke's Royal Families of the World, Le Petit Gotha, Ruvigny's "Titled Nobility of Europe").

Starke of Limburg, West Germany, published a multi-volume German-language publication entitled the Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels (GHdA) - (Genealogical Handbook of Nobility).

[10] Instead the Gothaisches Genealogisches Handbuch (GGH) − (Gothaic Genealogical Handbook) continues the annual publication of the substantially same content as GHdA since 2015.

[11] Its subset Fürstliche Häuser (Princely Houses, the red volumes) continues with the publication of the genealogies of the European royal, princely and ducal houses, divided into the three sections as previously with Gotha and GHdA, but focuses on their current family members and refers to older volumes of the latter publications with regard to generations that are longer in the past.

As it was the practice of the diplomatic corps to employ official titles, to adhere to local precedence and etiquette, and to tender congratulations and condolences to members of the dynasty of the nation to which they were assigned, the almanac included a Calendrier des Diplomates ("Diplomats' Calendar") section, which detailed major national holidays, anniversaries, ceremonies and royal birthdates.

[3] Following World War I and the fall of many royal houses, fewer regulatory authorities remained to authenticate the use of titles; however the Almanach de Gotha continued the practice of strict verification of information, requesting certified copies of letters patent, genealogies confirmed by competent authorities, documents, decrees and references for titles claimed.

Nor were the grandees or ducal families of Portugal and Spain (where titles, being transmissible through both male and female lines, were regularly inherited by descendants of non-patrilineal lineage).

Families which became extinct were listed for the final time in the year following the death of the last member, male or female, and subsequent editions referred readers to that volume.