The Salana - the "jewel" of the Ernestines

The beginnings of Jena University can be traced back to the defeat of John Frederick I of Saxony in the Schmalkaldic War in 1546 and the resulting loss of his electoral dignity and Wittenberg University. The tour explains how a new university was founded at this low point of power and how it became the "jewel" of the Ernestines in the following decades. The tour also addresses the question of how the founding of the university in Jena influenced the creation of a separate principality of Saxony-Jena around 100 years later. Who were the princes of Jena? Where and how did they live? And in what way were they connected to "their" university?