Friedrich Schiller University of Jena |
Friedrich Schiller University of Jena is located in Jena, Thuringia in Germany and was named for the
German writer Friedrich Schiller.
As of 2004 has around 19,000 students and 340 professors.
Its current rector is Karl-Ulrich Meyn (until August 31, 2004). On September 1, the new rector, Klaus Dicke will assume his office as the
317th rector in the history of the university.
Organisation
The university is organised into the following ten faculties:
- theology
- jurisprudence
- economics and business administration
- philosophy
- Social and behavioural sciences
- mathematics and somputer science
- physics and astronomy
- chemical and earth sciences
- biology and pharmacy
- medicine
History
In 1547 the elector John Frederick the Magnanimous of Saxony, while a captive in the hands of the
emperor Charles V, conceived the plan
of founding a university at Jena, which was accordingly established by his three sons.
After having obtained a charter from the emperor Ferdinand
I, it was inaugurated on February 2, 1558.
Prior to the 20th century, University enrollment peaked in the 18th
century. The universities reputation peaked under the auspices of duke Charles Augustus, Goethe's patron (1787–1806), when Gottlieb Fichte, Georg Hegel, Friedrich
Schelling, Friedrich von Schlegel and Friedrich Schiller were on its teaching staff.
Founded as a home for the new religious opinions of the sixteenth century, it has ever been in the forefront of German
universities for political radicalism. More than any other German university, Jena carried out what were popularly regarded as
the characteristics of German student life—duelling and the passion for
Freiheit. At the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th centuries, the opening of new universities, along with the suspicions of the
various German governments as to the democratic opinions which obtained at Jena, militated against the university, which remained
unpopular until recent times.
In 1905 it was attended by about 1100 students, and its teaching staff (including
privatdozenten) numbered 112. Amongst its numerous auxiliaries are the library, with 200,000 volumes; the observatory;
the meteorological institute; the botanical garden; the seminaries of theology, philology, and education; and the well-equipped
clinical, anatomical, and physical institutes.
During the 20th century, the cooperation between Zeiss corperation, and the university brought new prosperity and attention to
Jena, resulting in a dramatic increase in funding and enrollment.
Notable alumni
Reference
External link
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