Short chronicle

The place name "Iani" appears in a list of places liable to pay interest to the Hessian monastery of Hersfeld. This can be related to Jena, although not with absolute certainty.

The naming of a Folmarus de Gene ("Volmar von Jena") as a witness in a document of the Archbishop of Mainz represents a second mention of Jena.

Landgrave Ludwig III of Thuringia confirms the sale of a forest in Zwätzen, situated on the Saale between Jena and Dornburg.

"cives" (citizens) are mentioned for the first time in a document by Hermann von Lobdeburg that cannot be precisely dated. The document is therefore regarded as the first mention of Jena as a town.

The documentary mention of eight "consules" (councilmen) is the first tangible reference to a municipal council.

Construction begins on the new town church of St. Michael. One of the largest Gothic town churches in Thuringia is built over a longer period of time (until the mid-16th century) on a Romanesque predecessor building. Around the same time, construction of the town hall begins, which is completed by the end of the 14th century.

The sovereigns sell the upper and lower courts and the customs of Jena to the town.

The Jena City Palace is built as a secondary residence for the Wettin lords of the city.

Jena becomes a center of the Reformation. Reformation writings are printed by Michel Buchführer in Jena. Luther argues with Karlstadt in Jena. Peasant unrest breaks out in April/May 1525. The two monasteries of the Dominicans and Carmelites are plundered.

In Jena, an "academic grammar school" is founded in the building complex of the former Dominican monastery as a preliminary stage of a new university. The university is opened on February 2, 1558.

A sovereign privilege is granted to the university pub "Zur Rosen" for the tax-free serving of wine and beer to university members.

Jena experiences great devastation during the Thirty Years' War: the city is plundered and the Camsdorf Bridge is severely damaged. After the end of the war, a great peace festival is celebrated in 1650.

After a division of the land, the independent Duchy of Saxony-Jena is created under Duke Bernhard. Jena becomes the residence and state capital.

The first issue of the "Jenaische Wöchentliche Anzeigen" by publisher Johann Ludwig Neuenhahn is published. In the 17th and 18th centuries, Jena is second only to Leipzig as a center of German book printing.

With 778 newly enrolled students, Jena is one of the most popular universities in Protestant Germany.

Joachim Georg Darjes is appointed Professor of Morals and Politics and also lectures on cameralism.

In collaboration with the anatomist Johann Justus Loder, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe discovers the intermaxillary bone in humans.

Friedrich Schiller gives his inaugural lecture as Associate Professor of History.

Jena and its university form an intellectual and cultural center: Goethe, Schiller, Fichte, Hegel, Feuerbach, Schelling, Hufeland and the circle of early Romantics with Tieck, the brothers August Wilhelm and Friedrich Schlegel, Caroline Schlegel and Dorothea Veit work here.

In the double battle of Jena and Auerstedt, the French inflict a crushing defeat on the Prussian army and its allies on October 14. Immediately before and after the battle, Jena suffers heavily from the French quartering.

The Jena fraternity ("Urburschenschaft") is founded in the "Zur grünen Tanne" inn. 1817 The "Wartburg Festival" is celebrated on the initiative of Jena fraternity members and with the participation of Jena professors Oken, Kieser and Fries.

Carl Zeiss from Weimar opens a "mechanical workshop" in Jena, which constructs and repairs equipment, in particular microscopes, for scientific and medical research at the university.

The mathematician and physicist Ernst Abbe becomes a scientific employee at Carl Zeiss and lays the scientific foundations for microscope construction.

Jena is connected to the rail network with the Saalbahn and the Weimar-Geraer Bahn.

The glass technician Otto Schott founds the "Schott & Genossen Glass Technology Laboratory" together with Carl Zeiss and Ernst Abbe.

After the death of Carl Zeiss, Ernst Abbe transforms the former private company into a foundation. The supplementary statute of the "Carl Zeiss Foundation" (1900) generously extends the annual financial endowment of the university.

The Jena Art Association is founded under the chairmanship of the lawyer Eduard Rosenthal.

On the occasion of the 350th anniversary of the founding of the university, the new main university building (architect Theodor Fischer) is inaugurated.

The Ernst Abbe monument by Henry van de Velde with works by Max Klinger and Constantin Meunier is inaugurated.

After the outbreak of World War I, the wave of enthusiasm for the war drowns out previous protests and doubts. High school and university students in particular volunteer for the war effort.

When peace is concluded, 1,459 people in Jena mourn the loss of their lives in the war. A revolutionary workers' and soldiers' council is formed in November.

The Jena Adult Education Center is founded under the umbrella organization "Volkshochschule Thüringen".

After Wenigenjena, Langenjena and Lindenjena before the I. After Wenigenjena, Lichtenhain and Ziegenhain had already been incorporated before the First World War, the towns of Ammerbach, Löbstedt, Zwätzen, Winzerla and Burgau now join the city of Jena.

The newly elected municipal council includes 13 members of the NSDAP as the strongest faction. Lord Mayor Dr. Alexander Elsner is removed from office. He is replaced by Armin Schmidt (NSDAP).

Due to the "Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service", Jewish professors at the university are dismissed or put on leave.

On the occasion of Friedrich Schiller's 175th birthday, the university is given his name.

On the basis of a document that cannot be precisely dated, the city celebrates the 700th anniversary of the city's elevation with a week of festivities.

After the November pogrom, the remaining Jewish businesses are closed.

In a first transport, 342 Jews from central Germany, including 9 people from Jena, are deportedto the Bełżyceghetto (Lublin district). In total, more than 100 Jewish people associated with Jena became victims of Nazi tyranny.

In February/March, heavy bombing raids hit the city, killing over 700 people. 15% of the city's buildings are destroyed. On April 13, American troops occupy the city. From the beginning of July, Soviet military authorities take over occupation rights. The university resumes teaching in October 1945.

On the orders of the occupying power, the almost complete dismantling of the Zeiss and Schott companies begins.

The demolition of the city center is largely completed.

On June 17, there are massive protests in Jena against measures taken by the GDR government. Around 20,000 residents take part in the demonstrations. A state of emergency is declared and around 500 people are arrested.

The town church of St. Michael, which was badly damaged in the war, is reopened after restoration work.

After completion of the planning work and the start of initial development work, the ground-breaking ceremony for the construction of the large housing estate Lobeda-West takes place. By 1975, around 5600 prefabricated housing units are built.

As part of the redevelopment of Jena's city center, construction begins on the university tower block (planned as a Zeiss research tower block). Large parts of the historic city center between Eichplatz and Kollegiengasse are demolished for this purpose.

Construction begins on the Lobeda-Ost development area. Over 8500 apartments are built here by 1983.

Jena has 100,000 inhabitants and thus receives metropolitan status.

Jena becomes the starting point of a peace movement that campaigns for the outlawing of weapons in East and West under the slogan "Swords to Ploughshares".

Opposition parties and movements are founded at the end of September/beginning of October. Intercession services and demonstrations have been taking place since October. On November 4, around 40,000 Jena residents take part in the largest demonstration. The first "Round Table" meets on December 1. In the first free local elections in May 1990, the CDU becomes the strongest parliamentary group in the city council.

The area and population of the city of Jena grows considerably as a result of regional reform. Jena now includes Cospeda, Closewitz, Drackendorf, Isserstedt, Jenaprießnitz, Krippendorf, Kunitz, Laasan, Maua, Münchenroda and Vierzehnheiligen.

The "Goethe Galerie" shopping arcade and the new campus of the Friedrich Schiller University are built on the site of the former Zeiss main factory.

Laying of the foundation stone for the Klinikum 2000 in Lobeda-Ost, which is officially opened in 2004.

The faithfully reconstructed Renaissance dome (destroyed in 1945) is placed on the tower of St. Michael's Church.

Around 20,000 students study in Jena at the start of the semester, around 3,000 of them at the University of Applied Sciences.

The GalaxSea leisure pool in Jena-Winzerla is opened.