Sightseeing Jena

Germany‘s highest Innovation Density is in Jena

From a global perspective, Jena has been a hotspot for optics and photonics for over 150 years. It is the beginning of the scientifically based construction of microscopes that is closely related to the university city. This innovation enabled numerous breakthroughs in the natural and life sciences. Other examples are the design of spectacle lenses as they are produced today, being introduced here in 1912. The anti-reflective coating on lenses was patented in Jena as early as 1935. The German Future Prize as most prestigious innovation award in Germany, has been awarded to researchers from Jena for the fourth time – always for solutions and products in optics and photonics. This makes Jena the spot with the highest innovation density in Germany.

With the walk we will visit some historic sites including a table used by both Goethe and Schiller as well as by Abbe and his colleagues.

Visiting the monument dedicated to Ernst Abbe (1840-1905) which was built with donations from the people of Jena.

In 1866, the 50-year-old Carl Zeiss persuaded the young physicist Ernst Abbe to take on the reproducible manufacturing of microscope systems.
In 1873, Abbe published his empirically proven theory of image formation in the microscope. In addition to numerous physical innovations, Abbe was active as a social reformer, introducing the eight-hour workday and establishing health insurance and pensions. In 1889, he founded the Carl Zeiss Foundation.
Monument for Ernst Abbe, built 1909-1911, Architect Henry van de Velde, interior created by Max Klinger and Constantin Emile Meunier