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.

The Market Square in Jena.

Coordinates: 50°56′N 11°35′E

Jena


Country	Germany
State	Thuringia
District	urban district
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.

1 History
2 Economy
3 Main sights
4 Transportation
5 Colleges, universities and research institutes
6 Museums
7 Culture
8 Famous residents
9 Sister cities
10 External links
11 Categories

History

Jena was first mentioned in a 1182 document. According to some historian, this city was related to a previous settlement, called Jani, existing in the area in 9th century. In the 11th century it was a possession of the lords of Lobdeburg, but in the following century it developed into an independent market town with laws and magistrates of its own. Economy was based mainly on wine production. In 1286 the Dominicans established in the city, followed by the Cistercians in 1301.

The margraves of Meissen imposed their authority over Jena in 1331. From 1423 it belonged to Electoral Saxony of the Housen of Wettin, who had inherited Meissen, remaining with it also after the division of their lands in 1485.

Reformation was brought in the city in 1523. In the following years the Dominican and the Carmelite convents were attacked by the townsmen. In 1548 the university was founded by elector John Frederick the Magnanimous.

For a short period (1670-1690) Jena was the capital of an independent dukedom (Saxe-Jena). In 1692 it was annexed to Saxe-Eisenach and in 1741 to the Duchy (later Grand Duchy) of Saxe-Weimar, to which it belonged until 1918.

On 14 October 1806 Napoleon fought and defeated the Prussian army here in the Battle of Jena-Auerstedt. Resistance against the French occupation was strong, especially among the town students, many of which fought in the Lützow Free Corps in 1813. Two years later the Urburschenschaft fraternity was founded in the city.

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 (though restored after the end of the war).

Part of the State of Thuringia from its foundation in 1920 on, it was incorporated into the German Democratic Republic in 1949 and its district of Gera in 1952. Since 1990, the city of Jena has been a part of the Free State of Thuringia which in the united Federal Republic of Germany.

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 city's economy diversifies into bioinformatics, biotechnology, software and photonics. The metropolitan area of Jena is among Germany's 50 fastest growing regions.

The Jen-Tower.

Main sights

The 13th century Rathaus ("Town Hall"). It has astronomic clock featuring the Schnapphans ("Snatching Hans").
The Gothic St. Michael's Church (Michaelskirche, 1506). It has a bronze slab of Martin Luther's tomb
Monument to John Frederick the Magnanimous (1905-08), in the Market Square
The Old Castle and numerous towers from the medieval fortifications, including the Powder Tower (13th-14th centuries)
House and Church of Friedrich Schiller.
Jen-Tower, a research edifice built in GDR times.

In the neighbourhood are the Dornburg Castles and the Kapellendorf Moated Castle.

Transportation

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 of 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