Jena, March 6, 2026. The Friedrich Schiller University Jena has laid the foundation stone for its new communication center „FORUM“ this week. The new building at the emerging Campus Inselplatz is intended to serve as the university’s central house of ideas in the future.
- Event: Foundation stone laying for the communication center FORUM („House of Ideas“)
- Date: Wednesday, March 4, 2026
- Location: Campus Inselplatz (direct vicinity of the Universitätshauptgebäude)
- Participants: Prof. Dr. Andreas Marx (President of Uni Jena), Mario Voigt (Thuringian Prime Minister), Dr. Thomas Nitzsche (Lord Mayor of Jena), Dr. Felix Streiter (Managing Director of the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung)
A New Center for Ideas and Exchange
The symbolic foundation stone for the construction project was laid in a festive ceremony on Wednesday. The new building is being constructed in the heart of the city, in the immediate vicinity of the venerable main building of the Friedrich-Schiller-Universität. It marks another important milestone in the development of Jena’s higher education infrastructure.
In addition to the acting university president Prof. Dr. Andreas Marx, many political and social figures attended the ceremony. Thuringia’s Prime Minister Mario Voigt and Jena’s Lord Mayor Dr. Thomas Nitzsche accompanied the ceremony. Also present was Dr. Felix Streiter, who represented the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung as Managing Director – an institution traditionally closely linked to the promotion of the Jena scientific landscape.
Background: The Campus Inselplatz
The new Campus Inselplatz is one of the most significant and far-reaching inner-city construction projects in Jena’s recent history. On the formerly fallow area, which served as a parking lot for decades, a state-of-the-art university area is currently being created. In addition to the now-started communication center FORUM, new institute buildings for psychology, mathematics, and computer science, a modern departmental library, and a new cafeteria for the Studierendenwerk will also be built here in the coming years. The major project significantly shapes urban development and consolidates the university locations in the center of the Lichtstadt.
Source:
Where the future begins: Uni Jena lays foundation stone for house of ideas
Transparency note: This article was created automatically, editorially reviewed, and expanded with AI support.