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JENA

This article is about the German town of Jena. For the battle refer to Battle of Jena-Auerstedt and for the town in the United States refer to Jena, Louisiana.

Coordinates: 50°56′N 11°35′E

Jena
Coat of arms of Jena Location of Jena in Germany
 
Country Germany
Federal state Thuringia
Administrative region
District urban district
Administrative unit
Population 102,442 source (2004)
Area 114.29 km²
Population density 894 /km²
Elevation 155 m
Coordinates 50°56′ N 11°35′ E
Postal code 07701–07751
Area code 03641
Licence plate code J
Mayor Albrecht Schröter (SPD)
Website jena.de

Jena is a town in central Germany on the River Saale. With a population of 102,442 (as of 31 December 2004) it is the third biggest town in the federal state of Thuringia.

Contents

History

Jena was first mentioned in 1236 and developed as a market town up until the foundation of the university in 1558.

On 14 October 1806 Napoleon fought and defeated the Prussian army here in the Battle of Jena-Auerstedt.

In 1945, towards the end of World War II, Jena was heavily bombed by the American and British allies. 153 people were killed and most of the medieval town centre was destroyed.

Economy

Today Jena is a manufacturing city, specializing in precision machinery, pharmaceuticals, optics and photographic equipment, and is home to the famous Zeiss optics plant. In 1926 the world's first modern planetarium was built by the Zeiss company in the Damenviertel district of the town. Today the cities economy diversifies into bioinformatics, biotechnology, software and photonics. The metropolitan area of Jena is among Germany's 50 fastest growing regions.

Buildings

Colleges, Universities and Research Institutes

  • The Friedrich Schiller University of Jena was founded in 1558 as the "Collegium Jenense".
  • In 1794 the poets Goethe and Schiller met at the university and established a long lasting friendship.
  • The University of Applied Sciences (Fachhochschule Jena) was founded in 1990.
  • The Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology is an important research center and offers a Ph.D. program.
  • The Max Planck Institute for Economics
  • The Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry
  • The Institute for Physical High Technology
  • INNOVENT - one of the biggest private research centers in Germany
  • The Leibniz Institute for Age Research
  • The Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology
  • Friedrich-Löffler-Institute for Infectuous Disease Control
  • The Jena Center for Bioinformatics

Museums

  • Optical Museum Jena - history of optical instruments
  • Schott GlassMuseum - production and usage of glass
  • Citymuseum Göhre - urban history of Jena
  • Botanical Garden
  • Phyletical Museum - biology
  • Romanticism House - literary
  • Memorial to Goethe - literary
  • Oriental Coin Cabinet Jena - Oriental history, numismatics

Culture

The Jenaer Philharmonie is the largest independent symphony orchestra in Thuringia.


Famous residents

External links

Jena travel guide from Wikitravel