Jena is a German university city and an independent city in Thuringia in the metropolitan region of Central Germany.
It lies on the Saale between the shell limestone slopes of the Ilm-Saale-Platte and is the second largest city in Thuringia after the state capital Erfurt and one of the three regional centers of the Free State.
Jena is also the 74th largest city in Germany.
Jena is home to the Friedrich Schiller University of Jena, which was founded in 1558 and is the largest university in Thuringia with 16,260 students.
Jena began to develop into an industrial city with the construction of the Saalbahn in 1874.
It is a center of the German optics and precision engineering industry around the Carl Zeiss company.
The Carl Zeiss combine, with around 60,000 employees, was also the largest combine in the GDR at the time.
After German reunification in 1990, Jena transformed from an industrial center to a center of education and science.
Numerous research laboratories and institutes are based in Jena.
Two of the earliest German skyscrapers were erected in the city, the Zeiss Bau 15 and Bau 36.
The 144.5 m (with antenna 159.60 m) high office tower Jentower was the highest tower in Germany when it was completed in 1972.
In 2008, the Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft awarded Jena the title City of Science.
The city of Jena also advertises itself with the name “Jena. City of light. "
In 2016, Jena was awarded the honorary title of “Reformation City of Europe” by the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe.
(Source: Wikipedia)