Sister cities of Jena

Jena (German pronunciation: [ˈjeːna]) is the second largest city in Thuringia, Germany, located 70 kilometres (43 miles) SW of Leipzig, 170 km (106 miles) N of Nuremberg and 150 km (93 miles) W of Dresden. Together with the neighbour-cities Erfurt and Weimar it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 inhabitants, while the city itself has a population of nearly 110,000. Jena is a centre of education and research; the Friedrich Schiller University was founded in 1558 and has 21,000 students today and the Ernst-Abbe-Fachhochschule Jena counts another 5,000 students. Furthermore, there are many institutes of the leading German research societies.

Jena was first mentioned in 1182 and stayed a small town until 19th century, when industry developed. During most of the 20th century, Jena has been a world centre of optical industry around companies like Carl Zeiss, Schott and Jenoptik (since 1990). As one of only few medium cities in Germany, it has some high-rise buildings in city centre, like Jen Tower. Those have their origin also in the former Carl Zeiss factory. Between 1790 and 1850, Jena was a focal point of German Vormärz as well as of studental liberal and unification movement and German Romanticism. Notable persons of this period in Jena are Friedrich Schiller, Johann Gottlieb Fichte, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Novalis and August Wilhelm Schlegel.

The city's economy is based on high-tech industry and research, making Jena an innovation centre in Germany. Optical and precession industry is the leading branch to date, while software engineering, other digital businesses and biotechnology are of growing importance. Furthermore, Jena is also a service hub for the bordering regions.

Jena lies in a hilly landscape in the east of Thuringia, within the wide valley of the Saale river.