The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a

public research university A public university, state university, or public college is a university or college that is State ownership, owned by the state or receives significant funding from a government. Whether a national university is considered public varies from o ...

located in

Jena Jena (; ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 in ...

, Thuringia, Germany. The university was established in 1558 and is counted among the ten oldest universities in Germany. It is affiliated with six Nobel Prize winners, most recently in 2000 when Jena graduate

Herbert Kroemer Herbert Kroemer (; August 25, 1928 – March 8, 2024) was a German-American physicist who, along with Zhores Alferov, received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2000 for "developing semiconductor heterostructures used in high-speed- and opto-electro ...

won the Nobel Prize for physics. It was renamed after the poet

Friedrich Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, philosopher and historian. Schiller is considered by most Germans to be Germany's most important classical playwright. He was born i ...

who was teaching as professor of philosophy when Jena attracted some of the most influential minds at the turn of the 19th century. With

Karl Leonhard Reinhold Karl Leonhard Reinhold (; ; 26 October 1757 – 10 April 1823) was an Austrian philosopher who helped to popularise the work of Immanuel Kant in the late 18th century. His "elementary philosophy" (''Elementarphilosophie'') also influenced German ...

Johann Gottlieb Fichte Johann Gottlieb Fichte (; ; 19 May 1762 – 29 January 1814) was a German philosopher who became a founding figure of the philosophical movement known as German idealism, which developed from the theoretical and ethical writings of Immanuel Ka ...

G. W. F. Hegel Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a 19th-century German idealism, German idealist. His influence extends across a wide range of topics from metaphysical issues in epistemology and ontology, to political phi ...

, F. W. J. Schelling and

Friedrich Schlegel Karl Wilhelm Friedrich (after 1814: von) Schlegel ( ; ; 10 March 1772 – 12 January 1829) was a German literary critic, philosopher, and Indologist. With his older brother, August Wilhelm Schlegel, he was one of the main figures of Jena Roma ...

on its teaching staff, the university was at the centre of the emergence of

German idealism German idealism is a philosophical movement that emerged in Germany in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It developed out of the work of Immanuel Kant in the 1780s and 1790s, and was closely linked both with Romanticism and the revolutionary ...

and early Romanticism. , the university has around 19,000 students enrolled and 375 professors. Its current president,

Walter Rosenthal Walter Rosenthal (born October 11, 1954) is a German physician, pharmacologist & science manager, and President of the German Rectors' Conference since May 2023. Prior to that, he was the President of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (2014 ...

, has held the role since 2014.

History

Early history

Elector

John Frederick of Saxony John Frederick I (, 30 June 1503 – 3 March 1554), called the Magnanimous (), was the Elector of Saxony (1532–1547) until he was deprived of this title in the Capitulation of Wittenberg by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. He was leading the Sch ...

first thought of a plan to establish a university at

upon Saale in 1547 while he was being held captive by emperor

Charles V Charles V may refer to: Kings and Emperors * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise Others * Charles V, Duke ...

. The plan was put into motion by his three sons and, after having obtained a charter from the Emperor Ferdinand I, the university was established on 2 February 1558. The university, jointly maintained by the

Saxon Duchies The Ernestine duchies (), also known as the Saxon duchies (, although the Albertine appanage duchies of Weissenfels, Merseburg and Zeitz were also "Saxon duchies" and adjacent to several Ernestine ones), were a group of small states whose number ...

derived from the partitioning of John Frederick's duchy, was thus named Ducal Pan-Saxon University () or Salana (after the

river Saale The Saale (), also known as the Saxon Saale ( ) and Thuringian Saale (), is a river in Germany and a left-bank tributary of the Elbe. It is not to be confused with the smaller Franconian Saale, a right-bank tributary of the Main, or the Saale ...

). Prior to the 20th century, university enrollment peaked in the 18th century. The university's reputation reached its zenith under the auspices of Duke

Charles Augustus Karl August, sometimes anglicised as Charles Augustus (3 September 1757 – 14 June 1828), was the sovereign Duke of Saxe-Weimar and of Saxe-Eisenach (in personal union) from 1758, Duke of Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach ...

Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...

's patron (1787–1806), when

Gottlieb Fichte Johann Gottlieb Fichte (; ; 19 May 1762 – 29 January 1814) was a German philosopher who became a founding figure of the philosophical movement known as German idealism, which developed from the theoretical and ethical writings of Immanuel Ka ...

Friedrich Schelling Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling (; 27 January 1775 – 20 August 1854), later (after 1812) von Schelling, was a German philosopher. Standard histories of philosophy make him the midpoint in the development of German idealism, situating him be ...

Friedrich von Schlegel Karl Wilhelm Friedrich (after 1814: von) Schlegel ( ; ; 10 March 1772 – 12 January 1829) was a German literary critic, philosopher, and Indologist. With his older brother, August Wilhelm Schlegel, he was one of the main figures of Jena Roma ...

and

were on its teaching staff. Friedrich Schiller by Ludovike Simanowiz

Founded as a home for the new religious opinions of the sixteenth century, it has since been one of the most politically radical universities in Germany. Jena was noted among other German universities at the time for allowing students to

duel A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people with matched weapons. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the rapier and later the small sword), but beginning in ...

and to have a passion for ''Freiheit'', which were popularly regarded as the necessary characteristics of German student life. The University of Jena has preserved a historical detention room or

Karzer A was a designated lock-up or detention room to incarcerate students as a punishment, within the jurisdiction of some institutions of learning in Germany and German-language universities abroad. The American writer Mark Twain wrote about the karze ...

with famous caricatures by Swiss painter

Martin Disteli Martin Disteli (28 May 1802 in Olten – 18 March 1844 in Solothurn) was a Switzerland, Swiss painter. Early years He attended college in Solothurn 1817, then went to study in Lucerne from 1819 to 1821 (where he attended the very liberal zofi ...

. In the latter 19th century, the department of

zoology Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...

taught

evolutionary theory Evolution is the change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, resulting in certai ...

, with

Carl Gegenbaur Carl Gegenbaur (21 August 1826 – 14 June 1903)"Carl Gegenbaur – Encyclopædia Britannica" (biography), ''Encyclopædia Britannica'', 2006, Britannica.coBritannica-KarlG was a German anatomist and professor who demonstrated that the field of ...

Ernst Haeckel Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel (; ; 16 February 1834 – 9 August 1919) was a German zoologist, natural history, naturalist, eugenics, eugenicist, Philosophy, philosopher, physician, professor, marine biology, marine biologist and artist ...

and others publishing detailed theories at the time of Darwin's ''"

Origin of Species ''On the Origin of Species'' (or, more completely, ''On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life'')The book's full original title was ''On the Origin of Species by M ...

"'' (1858). The later fame of

eclipsed Darwin in some

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an countries, as the term "Haeckelism" was more common than

Darwinism ''Darwinism'' is a term used to describe a theory of biological evolution developed by the English naturalist Charles Darwin (1809–1882) and others. The theory states that all species of organisms arise and develop through the natural sel ...

. In 1905, Jena had 1,100 students enrolled and its teaching staff (including ''

Privatdozent ''Privatdozent'' (for men) or ''Privatdozentin'' (for women), abbreviated PD, P.D. or Priv.-Doz., is an academic title conferred at some European universities, especially in German-speaking countries, to someone who holds certain formal qualifi ...

en'') numbered 112. Amongst its numerous auxiliaries then were the library, with 200,000 volumes; the observatory; the meteorological institute; the botanical garden; the seminaries of theology, philology, and education; and the well-equipped clinical, anatomical, and physical institutes. After the end of the Saxon duchies in 1918, and their merger with further principalities into the

Free State of Thuringia Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany's 16 states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. Erfurt is the capital and la ...

in 1920, the university was renamed as the Thuringian State University (Thüringische Landesuniversität) in 1921. In 1934 the university was renamed again, receiving its present name of Friedrich Schiller University. During the 20th century, the cooperation between

Zeiss Zeiss or Zeiß may refer to: People *Carl Zeiss (1816–1888), German optician and entrepreneur *Emil Zeiß (1833–1910), German Protestant minister and painter * Juan Pablo Zeiss (born 1989), Argentine rugby union player * Mary Zeiss Sta ...

corporation and the university brought new prosperity and attention to Jena, resulting in a dramatic increase in funding and enrollment.

Nazi period

During the Third Reich, staunch

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

moved into leading positions at the university. The racial researcher and SS-Hauptscharführer

Karl Astel Karl Astel (26 February 1898 – 4 April 1945) was an Alter Kämpfer, rector of the University of Jena, a racial scientist, and also involved in the German Nazi Eugenics program. He was born on 26 February 1898 in Schweinfurt.Uwe Hossfel ...

was appointed professor in 1933, bypassing traditional qualifications and process; he later became rector of the university in 1939. Also in 1933, many professors had to leave the university as a consequence of the

Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service The Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service (, shortened to ''Berufsbeamtengesetz''), also known as Civil Service Law, Civil Service Restoration Act, and Law to Re-establish the Civil Service, was enacted by the Nazi Party, Na ...

. Student fraternities – in particular the

Burschenschaften A Burschenschaft (; sometimes abbreviated in the German ''Burschenschaft'' jargon; plural: ) is one of the traditional (student associations) of Germany, Austria, and Chile (the latter due to German cultural influence). Burschenschaften were fo ...

– were dissolved and incorporated into the Nazi student federation. The Nazi student federation enjoyed before the transfer of power and won great support among the student body elections in January 1933, achieving 49.3% of the vote, which represents the second best result. Between the Jena connections and the NS students wide-ranging human and ideological connections were recorded. When the Allied air raids to Jena in February and March struck in 1945, the University Library, the university main building and several clinics in the Bachstraße received total or significant physical damage. Completely destroyed were the Botanical Garden, the psychological and the physiological institute and three chemical Institutes. An important event for the National Socialist period was the investigation of the pediatrician Yusuf Ibrahim. A Senate Commission noted the participation of the physician to the "euthanasia" murders of physically or mentally disabled children.

Present

In the 20th century the university was promoted through cooperation with

Carl Zeiss (company) Zeiss ( ; ) is a German manufacturer of optics, optical systems and optoelectronics, founded in Jena, Germany, in 1846 by optician Carl Zeiss. Together with Ernst Abbe (joined 1866) and Otto Schott (joined 1884) he laid the foundation for tod ...

and thereby enabling it to increase the student population as a mass university. In 1905 the university had 1,100 students and 112 university teachers, so this figure has since been almost twenty-fold. The Friedrich-Schiller University is the only comprehensive university in Thuringia. Since 1995, there is a university association with the

Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (), also referred to as MLU, is a public university, public research university in the cities of Halle, Saxony-Anhalt, Halle and Wittenberg. It is the largest and oldest university in the German State o ...

and the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

. The aim is firstly to give the students the opportunity to visit with relatively few problems at the partner universities and events in order to broaden the range of subjects and topics. Currently e. g. has joined a cooperation in teaching in the field of bioinformatics. In addition, the cooperation provides the university management the opportunity to share experiences with their regular meetings and initiate common projects. So z. B. went from the successful bid to the

German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) The German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig is a German Research Foundation, DFG research center with staff and members at its main locations in Halle (Saale), Halle, Jena and Leipzig. It is a central facilit ...

from the university network. The co-operation continues at other levels: for example in a joint mentoring program for female postdocs or in the central German archives network. And last but not least, there are common sports activities. Since October 2014, the pharmacologist

is the president of the university;

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

is since 2007 the mathematician Klaus Bartholmé.Klaus Bartholmé (FSU)
/ref>

Organization

The university is organized in 10 schools: *

Theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

Jurisprudence Jurisprudence, also known as theory of law or philosophy of law, is the examination in a general perspective of what law is and what it ought to be. It investigates issues such as the definition of law; legal validity; legal norms and values ...

Economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

and

Business administration Business administration is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. Overview The administration of a business includes the performance o ...

Humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture, including Philosophy, certain fundamental questions asked by humans. During the Renaissance, the term "humanities" referred to the study of classical literature a ...

Social Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives fro ...

and

Behavioural sciences Behavioural science is the branch of science concerned with human behaviour.Hallsworth, M. (2023). A manifesto for applying behavioural science. ''Nature Human Behaviour'', ''7''(3), 310-322. While the term can technically be applied to the st ...

Mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

and

Computer science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...

Physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

and

Astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...

Chemical A chemical substance is a unique form of matter with constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Chemical substances may take the form of a single element or chemical compounds. If two or more chemical substances can be combin ...

and

Earth sciences Earth science or geoscience includes all fields of natural science related to the planet Earth. This is a branch of science dealing with the physical, chemical, and biological complex constitutions and synergistic linkages of Earth's four spheres ...

Biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

and

Pharmacy Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medication, medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it ...

Medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

Research

Research at Friedrich Schiller University traditionally focusses on both humanities and sciences. In addition to the faculties the following "Collaborative Research Centers" (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

"Sonderforschungsbereich", short: "SFB") operate at the university: * CRC 1076 AquaDiva : Understanding the Links Between Surface and Subsurface Biogeosphere * CRC/TR 124 FungiNet: Pathogenic fungi and their human host: Networks of interaction * CRC 1127 ChemBioSys: Chemical Mediators in Complex Biosystems * CRC/TR 166 ReceptorLight: High-end light microscopy elucidates membrane receptor function * CRC 1278 Polymer-based

nanoparticle A nanoparticle or ultrafine particle is a particle of matter 1 to 100 nanometres (nm) in diameter. The term is sometimes used for larger particles, up to 500 nm, or fibers and tubes that are less than 100 nm in only two directions. At ...

libraries for targeted anti-inflammatory strategiesde * CRC / TR 234 CataLIGHT: Light-driven Molecular Catalysts in Hierarchically Structured Materials – Synthesis and Mechanistic Studiesde * CRC 1375 NOA: Nonlinear Optics down to Atomic Scales Participations in DFG-Collaborative Research Centres: * CRC 950 Manuskriptkulturen in Asien, Afrika und Europa * CRC/TRR 212 A Novel Synthesis of Individualisation across Behaviour, Ecology and Evolution: Niche Choice, Niche Conformance, Niche Construction In 2006 the research center, Jena Center – History of the 20th century, was founded. In 2007 the graduate school "Jena School for Microbial Communication" (JSMC) was established within the

German Universities Excellence Initiative The Excellence Initiative of the German Council of Science and Humanities and the German Research Foundation (DFG) aims to promote cutting-edge research and to create outstanding conditions for young scholars at universities, to deepen coopera ...

. In 2008 the Center for Molecular Biomedicine (CMB) and the interdisciplinary research center Laboratory of the Enlightenment were developed as research institutions. 2014 the "Center of Advanced Research" (ZAF) was established. Jena University is one of the founder of The German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, that was founded in 2013. It is a research centre of the German Research Foundation (DFG). Friedrich Schiller University is the only German university with chairs for either gravitational theory or Caucasus Studies.

Rankings

The University of Jena is recognized in several

university ranking College and university rankings order higher education institutions based on various criteria, with factors differing depending on the specific ranking system. These rankings can be conducted at the national or international level, assessing inst ...

systems. As per the

QS World University Rankings The ''QS World University Rankings'' is a portfolio of comparative college and university rankings compiled by Quacquarelli Symonds, a higher education analytics firm. Its first and earliest edition was published in collaboration with '' Times ...

for 2024, the university is ranked 461st in the world and 26th nationally. In the

Times Higher Education World University Rankings The ''Times Higher Education World University Rankings'', often referred to as the THE Rankings, is the annual publication of university rankings by the ''Times Higher Education'' magazine. The publisher had collaborated with Quacquarelli Symon ...

of 2024, it is placed at 201-250th globally and 22-24th within the country. The

Academic Ranking of World Universities The ''Academic Ranking of World Universities'' (''ARWU''), also known as the Shanghai Ranking, is one of the annual publications of world university rankings. The league table was originally compiled and issued by Shanghai Jiao Tong Universi ...

(ARWU) for 2022 places it within the 401-500 bracket globally, and between 25th and 31st in the national context.

Notable faculty and alumni

Manuk Abeghian Manuk Khachaturi Abeghyan (, , alternatively Manouk Abeghian or Manuk Abeghian, 1865 – 26 September 1944) was an Armenians, Armenian Philology, philologist, Literary criticism, literary scholar, Folklore studies, folklorist, Lexicography, lexic ...

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

philologist and linguist *

Eva Ahnert-Rohlfs Eva Ahnert-Rohlfs (11 August 1912 – 9 March 1954) was a German astronomer. She made key observations of variable stars. Eva Ahnert-Rohlfs was born in Coburg (Duchy Saxe-Coburg-Gotha). She studied in Würzburg, Munich and Kiel from 1931 to 193 ...

(

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...

1951) *

Wilibald Artus Wilibald Artus (1811 - 7 February 1880) was a professor of philosophy at the University of Jena The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research ...

(1811–80), Professor of Philosophy *

Johann Bachstrom Jan Fryderyk or Johann Friedrich Bachstrom (24 December 1688, near Rawitsch, now Rawicz, Poland - June 1742, Nieswiez, now Nyasvizh, Belarus) was a writer, scientist and Lutheran theologian who spent the last decade of his life in Leiden. His surn ...

, writer, scientist,

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

and

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...

Ernst Gottfried Baldinger Ernst Gottfried Baldinger (13 May 1738 – 21 January 1804), German physician, was born in Großvargula near Erfurt. He studied medicine at Erfurt, Halle and Jena, earning his MD in 1760 under the guidance of Ernst Anton Nicolai and in 1761 ...

, German physician *

Hans Berger Hans Berger (21 May 1873 – 1 June 1941) was a German psychiatrist. He is best known as the inventor of electroencephalography (EEG) in 1924, which is a method used for recording the electrical activity of the brain, commonly described in terms ...

* William Craddock Bettridge (1791-1879), soldier and clergyman *

Otto Binswanger Otto Ludwig Binswanger (; ; 14 October 1852, Scherzingen, Münsterlingen – 15 July 1929, Kreuzlingen) was a Swiss psychiatrist and neurologist who came from a famous family of physicians; his father was founder of the Kreuzlingen Sanatorium, ...

Albrecht von Blumenthal Albrecht von Blumenthal (10 August 1889 – 28 March 1945) was a Classicist professor and soldier. Early life Albrecht von Blumenthal was born in Mescherin, Staffelde in Vorpommern, the son of Rittmeister Vally von Blumenthal and Cornelia Ka ...

taught Classical Philology as

1922–8 *

Rudolf Brandt Rudolf Hermann Brandt (2 June 1909 – 2 June 1948) was a German Schutzstaffel, SS officer from 1933–45 and a civil servant. A lawyer by profession, Brandt was the Personal Administrative Officer to ''Reichsführer-SS'' (''Persönlicher Referen ...

(1909–48), Nazi SS officer, executed for war crimes *

Werner Braune Karl Rudolf Werner Braune (11 April 1909 − 7 June 1951) was a German SS functionary during the Nazi era and a Holocaust perpetrator. During the German invasion of the Soviet Union of 1941, Braune was the commander of ''Einsatzkommando'' 11b, ...

(1909–51), Nazi SS officer, executed for war crimes *

Alfred Brehm Alfred Edmund Brehm (; 2 February 1829 – 11 November 1884) was a German zoologist and writer. His multi-volume book '' Brehms Tierleben'', which he co-authored with Eduard Pechuël-Loesche, Wilhelm Haacke, and Richard Schmidtlein, becam ...

Clemens Brentano Clemens Wenzeslaus Brentano (also Klemens; pseudonym: Clemens Maria Brentano ; ; 9 September 1778 – 28 July 1842) was a German poet and novelist, and a major figure of German Romanticism. He was the uncle, via his brother Christian, of Franz a ...

Rudolf Carnap Rudolf Carnap (; ; 18 May 1891 – 14 September 1970) was a German-language philosopher who was active in Europe before 1935 and in the United States thereafter. He was a major member of the Vienna Circle and an advocate of logical positivism. ...

Heinrich Cotta Johann Heinrich Cotta (30 October 1763 – 25 October 1844) was a German silviculturist who was a native of Kleine Zillbach, near Wasungen, Thuringia. He was founder of the Royal Saxon Academy of Forestry, in Tharandt, and is known as a pioneer ...

, pioneer of scientific forestry *

Georg Friedrich Creuzer Georg Friedrich Creuzer (; 10 March 1771 – 6 February 1858) was a German philologist and archaeologist. Life He was born at Marburg, the son of a bookbinder. After studying at Marburg and at the University of Jena, he went to Leipzig as a ...

Claus Dierksmeier Claus Dierksmeier (born May 17, 1971, in Pforzheim) is a German philosophy, philosopher. He holds a chair for globalization ethics at the University of Tübingen and works as a strategic consultant in politics and business. Career After finishi ...

, German philosopher *

Carl H. Dorner Carl Herman Dorner (December 22, 1837 – August 13, 1911) was a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly. Biography Dorner was born on December 22, 1837, in what is now Hamburg, Germany. He attended the University of Jena and Leipzig University. ...

Else Rosenfeld Else Behrend-Rosenfeld (1891–1970) was a German Holocaust survivor, known for her published diary and letters, ''Living in Two Worlds''. Early life Rosenfeld was born in 1891 to a Jewish father and a non-Jewish mother. She grew up in Berlin. ...

Ernst Christoph Dressler Ernst Christoph Dressler (23 September 1734 – 6 April 1779) was a German composer, operatic tenor, violinist and music theory, music theorist. He began his career as a self taught singer and violinist, but eventually received vocal training from ...

(1734–79), German composer, operatic tenor, violinist and music theorist *

Rudolf Christoph Eucken Rudolf Christoph Eucken (; ; 5 January 184614 September 1926) was a German philosopher. He received the 1908 Nobel Prize in Literature "in recognition of his earnest search for truth, his penetrating power of thought, his wide range of vision, a ...

Gottlob Frege Friedrich Ludwig Gottlob Frege (; ; 8 November 1848 – 26 July 1925) was a German philosopher, logician, and mathematician. He was a mathematics professor at the University of Jena, and is understood by many to be the father of analytic philos ...

Roland Freisler Karl Roland Freisler (30 October 1893 – 3 February 1945) was a German jurist, judge and politician who served as the State Secretary of the Reich Ministry of Justice from 1935 to 1942 and as President of the People's Court from 1942 to 194 ...

Michael Fritsch Michael Fritsch is professor (emeritus) of Economics at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany. He is also an Associate Editor of the academic journal ''Small Business Economics''. Career Michael Fritsch studied economics at Technische ...

Johann Matthias Gesner Johann Matthias Gesner (9 April 1691 – 3 August 1761) was a German classical scholar and schoolmaster. Life He was born at Roth an der Rednitz near Ansbach. His father, Johann Samuel Gesner, a pastor in Auhausen, died in 1704, leaving the fam ...

Nelson Glueck Nelson Glueck (June 4, 1900 – February 12, 1971) was an American rabbi, professor, academic and archaeology, archaeologist. He served as president of Hebrew Union College from 1947 until his death, and his pioneering work in biblical archaeolo ...

Peter Griess Johann Peter Griess (6 September 1829 – 30 August 1888) was an industrial chemist and an early pioneer of organic chemistry. Griess was influential in the formation of modern dyes, first formulating the diazotization reaction of arylamines. Lif ...

Friedrich von Hagedorn Friedrich von Hagedorn (23 April 1708 – 28 October 1754) was a German Rococo#Literature, Rococo poet. He was born in Hamburg, where his father, a man of scientific and literary taste, was the Danish ambassador. His younger brother, Christian Lud ...

Arvid Harnack Arvid Harnack (; 24 May 1901 – 22 December 1942) was a German jurist, Marxist economist, Communist, and German resistance fighter in Nazi Germany. Harnack came from an intellectual family and was originally a humanist. He was strongly influen ...

Karl Hase Karl August von Hase (25 August 1800 – 3 January 1890) was a German Protestant theology, theologian and church historian. Background He was born at Steinbach (near Penig) in Saxony. He studied at Leipzig and Erlangen, and in 1829 was ca ...

Gerhart Hauptmann Gerhart Johann Robert Hauptmann (; 15 November 1862 – 6 June 1946) was a German dramatist and novelist. He is counted among the most important promoters of Naturalism (literature), literary naturalism, though he integrated other styles into h ...

Nobel Prize-winning writer *

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a 19th-century German idealist. His influence extends across a wide range of topics from metaphysical issues in epistemology and ontology, to political philosophy and t ...

Cuno Hoffmeister Cuno Hoffmeister (2 February 1892 – 2 January 1968) was a German astronomer, observer and discoverer of variable stars, comets and minor planets, and founder of Sonneberg Observatory. Born in Sonneberg in 1892 to Carl and Marie Hoffmeister, Cu ...

Katja Hoyer Katja Hoyer (born 1985) is a German-British historian, journalist and writer. Life and career Hoyer was born in Guben, East Germany, where her mother was a teacher and her father an East German military officer. She received a Master's degree f ...

* Maximilian von Jaunez (1873–1947), industrialist and politician *

Thede Kahl Thede Kahl (born 30 March 1971 in Hamburg) is a German ethnographer and ethnolinguist. He is the head of the Institute of South Slavic Studies in the University of Jena (in which he is a professor), in Germany. His research focuses are the Slavs, ...

George Kessler George Edward Kessler (July 16, 1862 – March 20, 1923) was an American pioneer city planner and landscape architect. Over the course of his forty-one year career, George E. Kessler completed over 200 projects and prepared plans for 26 co ...

Georg Klaus Georg Klaus (28 December 1912, Nuremberg – 29 July 1974, Berlin) was a German philosopher, cybernetician, chess master, and functionary. In 1928, he started his chess career in Nuremberg, playing at ''Arbeiterschachklub Nürnberg'', then ''Nür ...

Christian Knaut Christian Knaut (August 16, 1656 – April 11, 1716) was a German physician, botanist and librarian born in Halle an der Saale. His older brother, Christoph Knaut (1638–1694) was also a physician and botanist. He studied medicine at the Unive ...

, 17th Century botanist after whom ''

Knautia arvensis ''Knautia arvensis'', commonly known as field scabious, is a herbaceous perennial species of flowering plant in the honeysuckle family Caprifoliaceae. Description It is a perennial plant that grows between . It prefers grassy places and dry ...

'' was named by Linnaeus *

Karl Korsch Karl Korsch (; August 15, 1886 – October 21, 1961) was a German Marxist theoretician and political philosopher. He is recognized as one of the "dissidents" that challenged the Marxism of the Second International of Karl Kautsky, Georgi Plekhan ...

graduated from the University of Jena's law school summa cum laude superato, 1911 *

Jan Kollár Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to: Acronyms * Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN * Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code * Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group * Japanese Article Num ...

, Panslavist and poet * Martin Leiner, chair in Systematic Theology/Ethics at the Faculty of Theology *

Li Linsi Li Linsi ( zh, c=厉麟似, p=Lì Línsì; 1896 – 1970); birth name Li Jiaxiang (), was a modern Chinese educator, diplomat and scholar, who has been recognized as one of the key figures in modern Chinese cultural and diplomatic history. Hai ...

, Chinese educator and diplomat *

István Kováts István Kováts ( Slovene ''Števan Kovatš''; January 25, 1866 – December 11, 1945) was a Hungarian Lutheran pastor, writer, and historian. He wrote in the Prekmurje Slovene (the language of the Hungarian Slovenes). He was born in Lébény, ...

Karl Christian Friedrich Krause Karl Christian Friedrich Krause (; 6 May 1781 – 27 September 1832) was a German philosopher whose doctrines became known as Krausism. Krausism, when considered in its totality as a complete, stand-alone philosophical system, had only a small ...

, Nobel Prize–winning physicist *

August Leskien August Leskien (; 8 July 1840 – 20 September 1916) was a German linguist who studied comparative linguistics, particularly relating to the Baltic and Slavic languages. Biography Leskien was born in Kiel. He studied philology at the universiti ...

Robert Ley Robert Ley (; 15 February 1890 – 25 October 1945) was a German Nazi politician and head of the German Labour Front during its entire existence, from 1933 to 1945. He also held many other high positions in the Nazi Party, including , and . So ...

Francis Lieber Francis Lieber (18 March 1798 – 2 October 1872) was a German-American jurist and political philosopher. He is best known for the Lieber Code, the first codification of the customary law and the laws of war for battlefield conduct, which serve ...

, emigrant to USA, author of "Lieber Code" * Georg Limnaeus (Magisters der Philosophie, 1581) astronomer, mathematician, natural philosopher, corresponded with Kepler and Galileo *

Michaelis Machol Michaelis Machol (November 18, 1845 – August 26, 1912) was a German-born American rabbi who ministered in Cleveland for thirty years. Life Machol was born on November 18, 1845, in Kolmar, Posen, Prussia, the son of Zadik and Esther Machol. Hi ...

, rabbi * Margaret Schönberger Mahler (Medicine, 1922) Austrian pediatrician, psychiatrist, and psychoanalyst *

Lucas Maius Lucas Maius (also Mai, May, Majus) (October 14, 1522 in Römhild – 4 or 5 March 1598 in Kassel) was a German Protestant pastor who converted from Lutheranism to Calvinism, and playwright during the Protestant Reformation. Life Lucas Maius was b ...

Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

(doctorate ''in absentia'', 1841) *

Johann Jakob Müller Johann Jakob Müller (4 March 1846 – 14 January 1875) was a physiologist and physicist. Education In 1868, he obtained his "Dr. med." degree from the University of Zurich, under Adolf Fick with a thesis entitled: ''Untersuchungen über den Dr ...

, German moral philosopher *

Ernest Nash Ernest Nash (September 14, 1898, in Potsdam, Germany – May 18, 1974 in Rome, Italy) was a student of Roman architecture and pioneer of archaeological photography. Nash was born as Ernst Nathan in Potsdam, Germany, but later changed his name ...

Novalis Georg Philipp Friedrich Freiherr von Hardenberg (2 May 1772 – 25 March 1801), pen name Novalis (; ), was a German nobility, German aristocrat and polymath, who was a poet, novelist, philosopher and Mysticism, mystic. He is regarded as an inf ...

Ernst Ottwalt Ernst Ottwalt (13 November 1901 – 24 August 1943) was the pen name of German writer and playwright Ernst Gottwalt Nicolas. A communist, he fled Nazi Germany in 1934 and went into exile in the Soviet Union, where he fell victim to the Great Purge ...

Axel Oxenstierna Axel Gustafsson Oxenstierna (; 1583–1654) was a Swedish statesman and Count of Södermöre. He became a member of the Swedish Privy Council in 1609 and served as Lord High Chancellor of Sweden from 1612 until his death. He was a confidant of ...

Henri Pittier Henri is the French form of the masculine given name Henry, also in Estonian, Finnish, German and Luxembourgish. Bearers of the given name include: People French nobles * Henri I de Montmorency (1534–1614), Marshal and Constable of France * ...

Samuel von Pufendorf Samuel von Pufendorf (; ; 8 January 1632 – 26 October 1694) was a German people, German jurist, political philosopher, economist and historian. He was born Samuel Pufendorf and Nobility, ennobled in 1694; he was made a baron by Charles XI of ...

Gerhard von Rad Gerhard von Rad (21 October 1901 – 31 October 1971) was a German academic, Old Testament scholar, Lutheran theologian, exegete, and professor at the University of Heidelberg. Early life, education, career Gerhard von Rad was born in Nu ...

* Charng Ratanarat, Thai chemist and entrepreneur *

Werner Rolfinck Werner Rolfinck (15 November 1599 – 6 May 1673) was a German physician, scientist and botanist. He was a medical student in Leiden, Oxford, Paris, and Padua. Biography Rolfinck earned his master's degree at the University of Wittenberg under ...

Erich Roth Erich Roth (1910 – executed in 1947 in Yugoslavia) was a functionary in the Gestapo (secret police) of Nazi Germany and war criminal during World War II. Roth studied law at the University of Jena and University of Göttingen and worked as an a ...

(1910–47), Nazi Gestapo member executed for war crimes *

Solomon Marcus Schiller-Szinessy Solomon Marcus Schiller-Szinessy, sometimes Solomon Mayer Schiller-Szinessy (23 December 1820, Budapest, Hungary - 11 March 1890, Cambridge) was a Hungarian rabbi and academic. He became the first Jewish Reader in Talmudic and Rabbinic Literature a ...

, doctorate (

Philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

) *

Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling (; 27 January 1775 – 20 August 1854), later (after 1812) von Schelling, was a German philosopher. Standard histories of philosophy make him the midpoint in the development of German idealism, situating him be ...

* Katja Schenke-Layland *

August Wilhelm Schlegel August Wilhelm von Schlegel (Schlegel until 1812; ; ; 8 September 176712 May 1845) was a German Indologist, poet, translator and critic. With his brother Friedrich Schlegel, he was a leading influence within Jena Romanticism. His translations o ...

August Schleicher August Schleicher (; 19 February 1821 – 6 December 1868) was a German linguist. Schleicher studied the Proto-Indo-European language and devised theories concerning historical linguistics. His great work was ''A Compendium of the Comparative Gr ...

, German Linguist,

Tree model In historical linguistics, the tree model (also Stammbaum, genetic, or cladistic model) is a model of the evolution of languages analogous to the concept of a family tree, particularly a phylogenetic tree in the biological evolution of species. ...

* Matthias Schleiden, German Botanist *

Arthur Schopenhauer Arthur Schopenhauer ( ; ; 22 February 1788 – 21 September 1860) was a German philosopher. He is known for his 1818 work ''The World as Will and Representation'' (expanded in 1844), which characterizes the Phenomenon, phenomenal world as ...

(philosophy doctorate ''in absentia'', 1813) *

Otto Schott Friedrich Otto Schott (1851–1935) was a German people, German chemist, glass technologist, and the inventor of borosilicate glass. Schott systematically investigated the relationship between the chemical composition of the glass and its properti ...

, inventor of borosilicate glass *

Hugo Schuchardt Hugo Ernst Mario Schuchardt (; 4 February 1842, Gotha (Thuringia) – 21 April 1927, Graz (Styria)) was a German linguist, best known for his work in the Romance languages, the Basque language, and today especially as a pioneer in the study of mixe ...

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

David Spence (rubber chemistry) David Spence (September 26, 1881 – September 24, 1957) was one of the pioneering rubber chemists. He helped the war effort during the World War II, Second World War by devising new ways of extracting natural rubbers from plants, and worked to i ...

, early pioneer in rubber chemistry * Johann Gustav Stickel, orientalist *

Michael Stifel Michael Stifel or Styfel (1487 – April 19, 1567) was a German monk, Protestant reformer and mathematician. He was an Augustinians, Augustinian who became an early supporter of Martin Luther. He was later appointed professor of mathematics at Je ...

, monk and mathematician *

Cajetan Tschink Cajetan Tschink (22 April 1763 – 26 August 1813) was an Austrian writer, philosopher, and professor whose literary work primarily focused on skepticism of the supernatural. His most prominent work was the Gothic fiction, Gothic novel ''Geschicht ...

, writer and philosopher *

Kurt Tucholsky Kurt Tucholsky (; 9 January 1890 – 21 December 1935) was a German journalist, satire, satirist, and writer. He also wrote under the pseudonyms Kaspar Hauser (after the Kaspar Hauser, historical figure), Peter Panter, Theobald Tiger and Ignaz Wr ...

, journalist and satirist *

Erhard Weigel Erhard Weigel (; 16 December 1625 – 20 March 1699) was a German mathematician, astronomer and philosopher. Biography Weigel earned his Master of Arts, M.A. (1650) and his habilitation (1652) from the University of Leipzig. From 1653 until his d ...

, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher *

Christa Wolf Christa Wolf (; Ihlenfeld; 18 March 1929 – 1 December 2011) was a German novelist and essayist. She is considered one of the most important writers to emerge from the former East Germany.Christian Wolff, philosopher *

Carl Zeiss Carl Zeiss (; 11 September 1816 – 3 December 1888) was a German scientific instrument maker, optician and businessman. In 1846 he founded his workshop, which is still in business as Zeiss (company), Zeiss. Zeiss gathered a group of gifted p ...

, optician

Museums and collections at the University

Among the collections which are open to the public are the

Jena Phyletisches Museum file:Phyletisches_Museum_in_July_2012.jpg, The Phyletic Museum in 2012 Jena Phyletisches Museum (or Jena Phyletic Museum) is a museum in the German town of Jena. It was established by the scientist Ernst Haeckel, as an institute dedicated to expl ...

, an institution which is unique in Europe for illustrating the history of evolution, the Ernst-Haeckel-Memorial Museum, the Mineralogical Collection which traces its roots back to

and the second oldest

Botanical Garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is ...

Middle Europe Central Europe is a geographical region of Europe between Eastern, Southern, Western and Northern Europe. Central Europe is known for its cultural diversity; however, countries in this region also share some historical and cultural similaritie ...

. The (''Schillers Gartenhaus'') and the Goethe Memorial at the

are reminders of the two towering geniuses of

. Both buildings are also open to the public. Oriental Collections/ Papyrus Collection * The Alphons-Stübel-Collection of Early Photographs from the Orient (1857–1890) * Hilprecht Collection * Orientalisches Münzkabinett (OMJ) * Papyrus Collection Archaeological Collections * Collection of Ancient Art * Collection of Plaster Casts of Ancient Sculpture * The Photo- and Slide Collection of the Institute of Classical Archaeology * The Collection of Prehistory and Early History * The Bilzingsleben collection * Department of Art History and Custodia Natural Sciences and Natural History * The Ernst-Haeckel-Haus * Zygomycetes (Mould Fungi) * Didactics of Biology * Herbarium Haussknecht (JE) * Botanical garden * Phyletic Museum Mineralogy & Geology * Mineralogical Collection * Teaching Collection of Models for Mineralogy History of Sciences * Collection of scientific and technical devices for physics * Astronomical collection Medicine * The Meyer Steineg Collection of Medical History in Jena * Anatomical Collection * Medical History * Goethe Memorial

Notes

References

Literature

* Mayhew, Henry (1864): German Life and Manners as Seen in Saxony at the Present Day: With an Account of Village Life – Town Life – Fashionable Life – Domestic Life – Married Life – School and University Life, &c., of Germany at the Present Time: Illustrated with Songs and Pictures of the Student Customs at the University of Jena. In Two Volumes. London ol. II, Section VII, Chapter VI-XI: Student Life at Jena

External links

*. . *.
University of Jena, statistics
. *Norbert Nail: Der schottische Dichter

Charles Hamilton Sorley Captain (British Army and Royal Marines), Captain Charles Hamilton Sorley (19 May 1895 – 13 October 1915) was a British Army Officer (armed forces), officer and Scotland, Scottish war poet who fought in the World War I, First World War. He was ...

als Student im Sommer 1914 an Saale, Lahn und Mose

(in German) *Norbert Nail: John Baillie (theologian), John Baillie – Schotte, Pastor, Student 1909/11 in Jena und Marburg. In: Studenten-Kurier 3/2017, pp. 16–18

*Norbert Nail: Ein tödliches Pistolenduell 1848 auf der Trießnitz in (Jena-)Winzerla. In: Studenten-Kurier 1–2/2019, pp. 12–1

(in German – a deadly student duel at Jena) {{DEFAULTSORT:University Of Jena University of Jena,

Jena 1558 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire

Public universities Friedrich Schiller Buildings and structures in Jena