Jena, the city of light and science

Jena, a college town and major optics center located in the Saale River Valley, offers vacationers and business travelers a big-city atmosphere amid unspoiled nature.

In Jena on business or for an event? Get a magnificent view of this Thuringian college town from the observation deck of the 128 m high JenTower. Jena has a towering reputation as the birthplace of the optics industry, largely thanks to pioneering entrepreneur Carl Zeiss. To learn more, drop in at the centrally located Optics Museum. Once your work obligations are done, feel free to discover the wonders of outer space, accompanied by music, in the Zeiss Planetarium and unwind at any of the countless bars lining Wagnergasse. Stay near the train station, the E40 highway and the great outdoors at MAXX Hotel Jena. It's only a few steps from the banks of the Saale River in Jena Paradies, one of the three parts of the Oberaue Urban Park.