The only Nobel Prize winner from the University of Jena to date: Rudolf Eucken.
- Abbe, Ernst (1840-1905)
Physicist, industrialist, social reformer; from 1863 private lecturer, from 1870 professor of mathematics and physics; since 1866 associated with Carl Zeiss; founded scientific microscope construction in 1871/1872; since 1875 partner and after the death of Carl Zeiss sole owner of the Optical Workshops; 1878/1900 director of the Jena Observatory; 1889 establishment of the Carl Zeiss Foundation; 1896 Dr jur. h.c. - Arndt, Ernst Moritz (1769-1860)
Historian, publicist; 1793/1794 studied theology and history - Arumäus, Dominicus (1579-1637)
Jurist; from 1605 professor of law; introduction of constitutional law as an independent discipline - Auerbach, Felix (1856-1933)
Physicist; in 1879 took over the post of associate professor for theoretical physics established by Abbe; in 1918 first biography of Abbe; promoter of modern art movements; 1933 suicide after the establishment of fascist tyranny - Batsch, August Johann Georg Karl (1761-1802)
Physician; from 1787 professor of medicine and botany, from 1792 of philosophy; in 1793 founder of the "Naturforschende Gesellschaft" at Jena - Binswanger, Otto (1852-1929)
Physician; from 1882 director of the „Landesirren-Heil- und Pflegeanstalt“ (from 1894 Psychiatric Clinic); from 1891 professor of psychiatry; reformed psychiatry and gave essential impulses to the development of psychiatry and neurology - Bose, Johann Andreas (1626-1674)
Historian; from 1656 professor of history; represented the new discipline in the sense of historical political science; Leibniz and Pufendorf were among his students - Brehm, Alfred Edmund (1829-1884)
Zoologist; 1855 Dr phil. in Jena; explorer and author of "Illustriertes Tierleben" - Brentano, Clemens (1778-1842)
Early Romantic poet; studied in Jena in 1798; editor of the folk song collection "Des Knaben Wunderhorn", together with Achim von Arnim - Buddeus, Johann Franz (1667-1729)
Theologian; from 1705 professor of theology; important academic teacher and respected scholar of the era of transition from orthodoxy to early enlightenment; his works set standards in the history of philosophy, dogmatics, ethics and church historiography - Busch, Hans (1884-1973)
Physicist; from 1922 professor for Applied Physics in Jena; discoverer of the electro-optical lens laws - Carpov, Jakob (1699-1768)
Philosopher, theologian, naturalist; 1722/1723 student and phil. Magister; follower of Christian Wolff - Claudius, Matthias (1740-1815)
Lyricist, publicist; 1759/63 studied theology and law; editor of the "Wandsbecker Boten“ - Darjes, Joachim Georg (1715-1791)
Philosopher, cameralist, pedagogue; 1735 Magister; 1744-1763 professor for morals and politics in Jena; 1761 founded one of the first trade schools in Germany ("Rosenschule") in Jena; co-author of the "Allgemeines Landrecht" under Friedrich II. - Delbrück, Berthold (1842-1922)
Linguist; from 1869 professor of comparative linguistics; author of the "Comparative Syntax of the Indo-Germanic Languages" - Döbereiner, Johann Wolfgang (1780-1849)
Chemist; from 1810 professor of chemistry; close scientific contacts with Goethe; with his triad theory he created the first approaches to a systematisation of the chemical elements - Droysen, Johann Gustav (1808-1884)
Historian; 1851/1859 professor of History; founder of the "Historical Seminar" in Jena and co-initiator of the Association for Thuringian History and Antiquities - Eichstädt, Karl Heinrich Abraham (1772-1848)
Philologist; from 1804 professor of poetry and eloquence; contributor to the "Allgemeine Literatur-Zeitung" and founder of the "Jenaische Allgemeine Literatur-Zeitung" - Esau, Abraham (1884-1955)
Physicist; 1925/1939 professor for Technical Physics; expansion of the Technical Physics Institute into a research centre for short-wave and ultra-short-wave technology; pioneer of high-frequency technology - Eucken, Rudolf (1846-1926)
Philosopher; from 1874 professor of Philosophy; creator of a metaphysical-idealistic philosophy of life; 1908 Nobel Prize for Literature - Feuerbach, Paul Johann Anselm (1775-1833)
Jurist; 1801/1802 professor of Law; founder of the modern German theory of criminal law - Fichte, Johann Gottlieb (1762-1814)
Philosopher; 1794-1799 professor of philosophy; important representative of German Idealism; banned from teaching in 1799 after the so-called "Atheism Controversy"; founding rector of the University of Berlin - Fischer, Kuno (1824-1907)
Philosopher; from 1856 professor of philosophy; versatile researcher and teacher in the fields of logic, metaphysics, history of philosophy and literature - Flacius Illyricus, Matthias (1520-1575)
Theologian; 1557-1562 professor of Theology; founder of Reformation church historiography; as a "Gnesiolutheran" a determined opponent of the Wittenberg "Philippists“ - Frege, Gottlob (1848-1925)
Mathematician; 1879-1918 professor of Mathematics; created the first complete axiom system of classical quantum logic with the "Basic Laws of Arithmetic"; co-founder of modern mathematical and formal logic - Fries, Jakob Friedrich (1773-1843)
Philosopher; from 1801 private lecturer and from 1816 professor of philosophy; Wartburg Festival participant in 1817; between 1817 and 1819 Germany's most effective philosophical university teacher, who, however, also expressed anti-Semitic views - Froebel, Friedrich Wilhelm August (1782-1852)
Pedagogue; studied philosophy 1799-1801; important work on preschool education; founder of the "Kindergarten“ - Gagern, Heinrich Frhr. von (1799-1880)
Jurist, politician; 1818/19 studied law; leading representative of the "Urburschenschaft"; 1848 first president of the Frankfurt National Assembly - Gegenbaur, Karl (1826-1903)
Physician, zoologist; from 1855 professor of zoology; research on comparative anatomy; close cooperation with Haeckel in the sense of Darwinian evolutionary theory - Gerhard, Johann (1582-1637)
Theologian; from 1615 professor of theology; leading Lutheran theologian of his time; author of the main work of Lutheran orthodoxy "Loci theologici" - Griewank, Karl (1900-1953)
Historian; from 1946 professor of medieval and modern history; merits in shaping a humanistic-democratic view of history; tragic suicide 1953 - Günther, Johann Christian (1695-1723)
Poet; studied in Jena from 1720-1722; important lyricist of the early German Enlightenment - Guericke, Otto von (1602-1686)
Physicist; 1621-1623 studied law; mayor of Magdeburg; known for his experiment with the "Magdeburg hemispheres” - Haeckel, Ernst (1834-1919)
Zoologist; from 1862 professor of zoology; most important German representative of the theory of evolution, who, however, also laid the foundations for racism; 1884 establishment of the Zoological Institute; 1908 foundation of the Phyletic Museum - Harnack, Arvid (1901-1942)
Lawyer, economist; 1920-23 studied law; executed by the National Socialists in 1942 for political resistance - Hase, Karl August von (1800-1890)
Theologian; 1830-1883 professor of church history; imprisoned as a fraternity member on the "Hoher Asperg" near Stuttgart; leading German church historian of the 19th century - Hauptmann, Gerhart (1862-1946)
Dramatist; 1882/83 studied philology and classical studies - Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich (1770-1831)
Philosopher; 1801-1805 private lecturer; 1805-1807 professor of philosophy; important representative of German idealist philosophy - Heussi, Karl (1877-1961)
Theologian; 1924-1953 professor of church history; 1930/1931 rector; important researcher in the field of patristics and history of historiography; author of the "Kompendium der Kirchengeschichte" (Compendium of Church History) - Hölderlin, Friedrich (1770-1843)
Poet; studied in Jena in 1795; wrote part of his patriotic hymns here - Huch, Ricarda (1864-1947)
Writer; doctorate at the Faculty of Philosophy; 1931 Goethe Prize of the City of Frankfurt; in 1936 moved to Jena; in 1946 honorary doctorate; senior president of the provisional state parliament in Thuringia and honorary president of the German Writers' Congress - Hufeland, Christoph Wilhelm (1762-1836)
Physician; 1793-1798 professor of Medicine; introduction of smallpox vaccination; 1796 major work "The Art of Prolonging Human Life" - Hufeland, Gottlieb (1760-1817)
Jurist; 1785-1803 professor for jurisprudence; important representative of the doctrine of natural law - Hund, Friedrich (1896-1997)
Physicist; 1946-1951 professor for Theoretical Physics; 1948 rector (resigned); pioneering work in the field of quantum physics - Joos, Georg (1894-1959)
Physicist; 1927-1935 professor for Theoretical Physics and director of the Physics Institute; contributed to the experimental verification of Einstein's Theory of Relativity by repeating the Michelson experiment in 1928 - Kieser, Dietrich Georg (1779-1862)
Physician; from 1812 professor of Medicine; Wartburg Festival participant in 1817; 1848 delegate to the Frankfurt National Assembly; Vice-President of the Weimar Parliament; 1858 President of the Leopoldina - Klopstock, Friedrich Gottlieb (1724-1803)
Poet; studied theology in 1745/1746; later one of the most important German poets of the 18th century. - Kollár, Jan (1793-1852)
Poet, philologist; 1817-1819 studied theology; Wartburg Festival participant in 1817; creator of the "Slavy Dčera" - Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm (1646-1716)
Physicist, philosopher; in 1663 student in Jena as a listener of Weigel; one of the great representatives of rationalism - Leisegang, Johannes (1890-1951)
Philosopher; 1930-1937 and 1945-1948 professor of Philosophy; 1934 imprisoned in Jena; in 1937 removed from office by the National Socialists, in 1948 by the Communists for political and ideological reasons - Leitzmann, Albert (1867-1950)
Germanist; 1898/1935 professor of German Philology; meritorious editor of the works of Forster and Wilhelm von Humboldt - Lipsius, Justus (1547-1606)
Philologist, historian; 1572-1574 professor for ethics, logic and history; compiled his Tacitus edition in Jena; later created one of the most important early modern theories of the state in the "Politica" - Loder, Justus Christian (1753-1832)
Physician; 1778-1803 professor of anatomy and surgery; scientific contacts with Goethe; later important surgeon in St. Petersburg and Moscow - Luden, Heinrich (1778-1847)
Historian; from 1806 professor of history; from 1809 supported the patriotic movement by lecturing on German history; patron of the fraternity movement - Marx, Karl (1818-1883)
Philosopher, politician, publicist; awarded a doctorate by the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Jena "in absentia" in 1841; founder of scientific socialism; important works: "Zur Kritik der politischen Ökonomie" (1859), "Das Kapital" (1867) - Melanchthon, Philipp (1497-1560)
Humanist, theologian, reformer; "Praeceptor Germaniae"; established the University of Jena according to his humanist-reformation school concept - Meyer, Rudolf (1909-1991)
Theologian; 1947-1975 professor for Old Testament, Semitic Studies and Rabbinic Literature; author of internationally recognised standard works on Semitic lexicography and linguistics; significant research achievements on the history and theology of Judaism; staunch democrat - Mosen, Julius (1803-1867)
Studied law and Dr phil. h.c. in Jena, poet, dramaturge in Oldenburg/Oldbg., author of the Tyrolean national anthem "Zu Mantua in Banden" (in accordance with the state law of 1948) and a large number of other partly popular song texts. - Neubauer, Theodor (1890-1945)
Historian, educator; 1913 Dr phil. in Jena; active in the resistance against the National Socialists in Thuringia; executed 1945 - Niethammer, Friedrich Immanuel (1766-1848)
Theologian, philosopher; from 1792 professor of philosophy, from 1798 professor of theology; later in a leading position in the reorganisation of the Bavarian education system. - Nossack, Erich (1901-1977)
Writer; studied law and philosophy; Büchner Prize in 1961, member of the Order Pour le mérite and several academies - Novalis (Georg Philipp Friedrich Frhr. von Hardenberg) (1772-1801)
Poet; studied law in 1790/1791; belonged to the circle of the Jena Early Romantics from 1796 onwards - Oken, Lorenz (1779-1851)
Physician, natural scientist; 1807-1819 professor of medicine; 1816 editor of the journal "Isis"; participant of the Wartburg festival in 1817; in 1819 dismissed from office; in 1823 founded the "Society of German Natural Scientists and Physicians"; from 1833 first rector of the University of Zurich - Oxenstierna, Axel (1583-1654)
Politician; 1602/1603 studied theology and jurisprudence in Jena; later member of the Swedish Imperial Diet; from 1612 Imperial Chancellor under King Gustav Adolf - Pufendorf, Samuel von (1632-1694)
Jurist, historian; 1656-1658 studied natural law with Weigel; later Brandenburg court historiographer; leading exponent of 17th century German philosophy of state and law - Petersen, Peter (1884-1952)
Pedagogue; from 1923 professor of education; developed the internationally renowned "Jenaplanschule" on the basis of reform education, which was closed in 1950 after political repression [further information de (German)]. - Rein, Käthe (1881-unknown deceased)
Daughter of a professor of education and student of philosophy; one of the first women to be enrolled at the university; founder of the Jena Women's Student Association in 1907 - Reinhold, Karl Leonhard (1758-1823)
Philosopher; 1787-1794 professor of philosophy; pioneer of Kantian philosophy and co-founder of German idealist philosophy - Reuter, Fritz (1810-1874)
Poet; 1832/1833 studied law; arrested as a member of the fraternity "Germania" in 1833 - Ritter, Johann Wilhelm (1776-1810)
Physicist; studied natural sciences from 1796; known as "physicist of the Romantic circle"; discoverer of ultraviolet light; founder of electrochemistry - Rolfinck, Werner (1599-1673)
Physician; from 1629 professor of anatomy; follower of Harvey's theory of blood circulation; first public dissection of corpses; important early enlightener - Rosenthal, Eduard (1853-1926)
Lawyer; from 1880 private lecturer, from 1896 professor of public law; friend of Abbe and contributor to the drafting of the statutes of the Carl Zeiss Foundation; creator of the constitution of Thuringia of 11.3.1921; 1923 Dr rer. pol. h.c. - Rückert, Friedrich (1788-1866)
Poet and translator; 1811 private lecturer in Jena; 1826-1841 professor for Oriental Languages in Erlangen. - Šafařik, Paul Joseph (1795-1861)
Philologist; studied in Jena from 1815-1819; later Slovak poet; author of the "History of Slavic Language and Literature"; translator of the works of Schiller - Salzmann, Christian Gotthilf (1744-1811)
Pedagogue; studied theology in Jena from 1761-1764; later at the Dessau "Philanthropium" and founder of the educational institution in Schnepfenthal - Savigny, Friedrich Carl von (1766-1861)
Jurist; 1802/1803 private lecturer; later member of the Prussian Council of State; founder of the historical school of law - Schelling, Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph (1775-1854)
Philosopher; from 1798 former professor of philosophy; belongs to the circle of German idealism as an important natural philosopher - Schiller, Friedrich (1759-1805)
Poet, historian; from 1789 professor of philosophy; author of historical works, aesthetic writings and dramatic poems of world literary rank - Schlegel, August Wilhelm (1767-1845)
Philologist, writer; in 1798 former professor of philosophy; editor of the programmatic journal of early Romanticism "Athenäum"; main representative of early Romanticism in Jena - Schlegel, Friedrich Wilhelm Carl (1772-1829)
Philologist, writer; 1799-1802 private lecturer in philosophy; philosophical head of the Jena early Romantic movement - Schleicher, August (1821-1868)
Linguist; from 1857 professor of Indo-European languages and comparative grammar; important systematist of Indo-European linguistics - Schleiden, Matthias Jakob (1804-1881)
Biologist; in 1839 Dr phil. in Jena; 1845-1863 professor of Botany; one of the most important biologists of the 19th century with his research on cell theory - Schott, Otto (1851-1935)
Chemist; in 1875 doctoral thesis in Jena; in 1881 start of collaboration with Abbe; in 1884 foundation of the "Glastechnisches Laboratorium Schott & Genossen", from 1920 "Jenaer Glaswerk Schott & Gen."; in 1908 Dr med. h.c.; in 1921 Dr jur. h.c. - Schütz, Christian Gottfried (1747-1832)
Philologist; from 1799 professor of poetry and eloquence; editor of the "Allgemeine Literatur-Zeitung"; first lectures on literary history - Schulze, Friedrich Gottlob (1795-1860)
Agricultural scientist; in 1826 professor for cameralistics; from 1839 professor for political science; founder of the first German agricultural teaching institute - Seebeck, Karl Julius Moritz (1805-1884)
Scholar of Classical Studies; most important curator of the University of Jena in the 19th century; between 1851/77 great merits in appointment policy and the establishment of institutes and clinics - Segner, Johann Andreas (1704-1777)
Physicist; studied in Jena from 1725 to 1729; later professor in Halle; inventor of the hydroelectric machine named after him - Siemsen, Anna (1882-1951)
Pedagogue; 1910 professor for higher education in Bonn; 1923 honorary professorship for pedagogy in Jena; member of the Reichstag in Berlin; in Switzerland editor of a socialist women's magazine, took over teaching position for literature and pedagogy at the University of Hamburg - Sievers, Eduard (1850-1932)
Philologist; from 1871 associate professor; in 1876 first professor of German philology; important contributions to research into the foundations of phonetics and Old English - Stifel, Michael (1486-1567)
Mathematician; 1558-1564 professor of Mathematics; first German number theorist; developed the law of formation for binomial coefficients and created the prerequisites for calculating with logarithms - Stigel, Johannes (1515-1562)
Neo-Latin poet; since 1548 professor of rhetoric and poetry; in 1549 first rector of the "Akademisches Gymnasium" in Jena - Thibaut, Anton Friedrich Justus (1772-1840)
Jurist; 1802-1806 professor of law; major work "System des Pandektenrechts" in Jena; important German civil lawyer; great connoisseur of music and friend of Robert Schumann - Troxler, Ignaz Paul Vital (1780-1866)
Physician, politician; 1800-1803 studied medicine in Jena; later bourgeois democrat; pioneer of the Swiss federal state - Tucholsky, Kurt (1890-1935)
Writer, publicist; in 1915 Dr jur. in Jena - Vaerting, Mathilde (1884-1977)
Educationalist; studied physics, mathematics, philosophy and chemistry; in 1923 full professorship in education in Jena; had to leave the university in 1933 because of the National Socialists - Vogt, Oskar Georg (1870-1959)
Physician; 1890-1894 student and assistant physician; 1894 med. diss. in Jena; co-founder of modern neuropathology - Voß, Johann Heinrich (1751-1826)
Philologist, poet; 1802-1805 private lecturer; renowned writer and translator of the works of Homer and Virgil - Wackenroder, Heinrich Wilhelm Ferdinand (1798-1854)
Chemist; as of 1828 associate professor of chemistry and pharmacy; in 1829 opening of a private pharmaceutical institute; in 1849 professor of chemistry; discoverer of carotene and corydalin - Walther, Johannes (1860-1935)
Geologist; from 1890 professor of palaeontology; in 1894 first holder of the "Haeckel Professorship of Geology and Palaeontology"; 1924-1931 President of the Leopoldina - Weigel, Erhard (1625-1699)
Mathematician, astronomer, educator; from 1653 professor of mathematics; universally inclined early enlightener and the university's most important scholar in the 17th century - Welti, Emil (1825-1899)
Jurist, statesman; studied law in Jena 1844-1847; later member of the Federal Council and six times President of the Swiss Confederation 1869-1891 - Wien, Max (1866-1938)
Physicist; 1911-1935 professor of Physics; one of the pioneers of wireless telegraphy - Zeiss, Carl (1816-1888)
Founder of the Zeiss factory; since 1861 university mechanic and lecturer; in 1880 Dr phil. h.c. - Zucker, Friedrich (1881-1973)
Classical philologist; 1918-1961 professor of Classical Philology; 1928/1929 and 1945-1948 Rector of the University of Jena