Universität Jena – Collegium Jenense

Thuringian Forest & the Saale Valley


Jena’s university faculties are spread throughout town, but this was where the university was founded as Collegium Jenense in 1548, in a former Dominican monastery. Enter the courtyard to admire the coat of arms of Johann Friedrich I and to check out the free exhibit (in German) on the university’s illustrious history.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Thuringian Forest & the Saale Valley attractions

1. JenTower

0.08 MILES

Built in 1972, but deceptively modern in appearance, the 128m-tall cylindrical JenTower was intended to be a Zeiss research facility, but proved…

2. Rathaus

0.12 MILES

One of the oldest maintained town halls in Germany, Jena’s Rathaus (1377) is graced with an astronomical clock in its baroque tower. Every hour, on the…

3. Schillers Gartenhaus

0.16 MILES

Goethe is credited with recruiting Schiller to Jena University in 1789. The poet, playwright and philosopher enjoyed Jena so much that he stayed for 10…

4. Stadtkirche St Michael

0.16 MILES

This late-Gothic church, one of the largest in Thuringia, is famous for having Martin Luther’s original bronze gravestone, modelled on a portrait by Lucas…

5. Stadtmuseum & Kunstsammlung Jena

0.16 MILES

This handsome fachwerk townhouse at the northern end of the market square dates in part to the 13th century. It now houses the Stadtmuseum (city museum)…

6. Botanischer Garten

0.17 MILES

Goethe himself planted the ginkgo tree in these wonderful botanic gardens, which have grown since their inception in 1794 to a collection of more than 12…

7. Optisches Museum

0.24 MILES

Carl Zeiss began building rudimentary microscopes in 1846 and, with Ernst Abbe’s help, developed the first scientific microscope in 1857. Together with…

8. Zeiss Planetarium

0.29 MILES

The world’s oldest public planetarium (1926) has a state-of-the-art dome projection system, making it a heavenly setting for cosmic laser shows paying…