Friedrich Schiller University of Jena

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Friedrich Schiller University of Jena
Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena

Latin: Universitas Litterarum Jenensis
Established	1558
Type:	Public university
Rector:	Prof. Klaus Dicke
Staff:	2,180
Students:	19,700
Location	Jena, Germany
Affiliations:	Coimbra Group EUA
Website:	www.uni-jena.de

Friedrich Schiller University of Jena (FSU) is located in Jena, Thuringia in Germany and was renamed for the German writer Friedrich Schiller in 1934.

As of 2004, the university has around 19,000 students enrolled and 340 professors. Its current rector, Klaus Dicke, is the 317th rector in the history of the university.

1 Organisation
2 Museums and collections at the University
3 History
4 Notable alumni
5 References
6 External links

The university is organised into the following ten faculties:

Academic Coin Cabinet
Alphons Stübel Collection of Early Middle Eastern Photographs (1850 - 1890)
Botanical Garden
Hilprecht-Collection of Ancient Oriental Art
Mineralogical Collection
Oriental Coin Cabinet
Phyletical Museum

The elector John Frederick, Elector of Saxony first thought of a plan to establish a university at Jena in 1547 while he was being held captive by emperor Charles V. The plan was put into motion by his three sons and, after having obtained a charter from the emperor Ferdinand I, the university was established on February 2, 1558.

Prior to the 20th century, University enrollment peaked in the 18th century. The university's 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 since been one of the most politically radical universities in Germany. Jena was noted among other German universities at the time for allowing students to duel and to have a passion for Freiheit, which were popularly regarded as the necessary characteristics of German student life. The University of Jena has preserved a historical detention room or Karzer with famous caricatures by Swiss painter Martin Disteli.

At the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th centuries, the German government militated against the university, which remained unpopular until recent times. This is believed to have been caused by the opening of new universities and the suspicions of the various German governments in regard to the democratic ideas coming out of Jena.

In the latter 19th century, the department of zoology taught evolutionary theory, with Carl Gegenbaur, Ernst Haeckel, and others, publishing detailed theories at the time of Darwin's "Origin of Species" (1858). The later fame of Ernst Haeckel eclipsed Darwin in some European countries, as the term "Haeckelism" was more common than Darwinism.

In 1905, Jena had 1100 students enrolled, 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 corporation, and the university brought new prosperity and attention to Jena, resulting in a dramatic increase in funding and enrollment.