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Jena
City in Germany

Jena

Jena is a city in Germany and the second largest city in Thuringia.

Plan a trip to Jena→From Erfurt

Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 inhabitants, while the city itself has a population of about 110,000. Jena is a centre of education and research. The University of Jena was founded in 1558 and had 18,000 students in 2017 and the Ernst-Abbe-Hochschule Jena serves another 5,000 students. Furthermore, there are many institutes of the leading German research societies.

Get in

Getting to Jena

While Jena does not have its own commercial airport, it is well-connected to several international hubs.

  1. 01
    Leipzig/Halle Airport
  2. 02
    Erfurt-Weimar Airport
  3. 03
    Jena Paradies
  4. 04
    Jena West
See

Worth seeing

  1. 01
    Markt

    Centre of the old town, surrounded by historical buildings.

  2. 02
    Göhre
  3. 03
    St Michael's

    Main Protestant parish church of the city.

  4. 04
    Schiller's

    Friedrich Schiller, one of the greatest classical German poets and playwrights lived in Jena from 1789 to 1799 with his wife Charlotte von Lengefeld, a native of nearby Rudolstadt.

  5. 05
    Schillerkirche

    Schlippenstraße 32 (East Jena (Wenigenjena), Tram 2, 3, 33 "Schlippenstraße").

  6. 06
    Anatomieturm

    Ruined round tower that used to be part of Jena's town fortification.

Do

Things to do

  1. 01
    Zeiss-Planetarium

    Am Planetarium 5 (parking space around the planetarium is scarce), order@planetarium-jena.de.

  2. 02
    Theaterhaus Jena

    Schillergässchen 1, info@theaterhaus-jena.de.

  3. 03
    Jenaer Philharmonie
Eat

Where to eat

As Jena is a student town and a town in the east of Germany, prices are slightly lower than in Western Germany. Thuringian specialties are: Thüringer Rostbratwurst (Thuringian roaster sausage), Rostbrätel (roasted meat). These can be found at the Grillteufel food stalls.

  1. 01
    Grillteufel Goethe Galerie

    Schillerstraße.

  2. 02
    Café Immergrün

    A very pleasant place with student atmosphere.

  3. 03
    FritzMitte - Stefan Lindloh

    Neugasse 5.

  4. 04
    Cafeteria Zur Rosen

    Johannisstraße 13.

  5. 05
    Die Kneipe

    Wagnergasse 10.

How locals move

Getting around Jena the local way

  • Get inFor day trips within the state, the Thüringen-Ticket (€35-€67) offers good value for groups, covering all regional transport in Thuringia, Saxony, and Saxony-Anhalt.

From Wikivoyage: Jena, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us. Last edited 2026-09.

Text adapted from Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: Wikimedia Commons (see Commons), Wikimedia Commons.