It was in Jena at the end of the 18th century that a new philosophical and literary movement emerged in the form of early Romanticism, which, alongside the Enlightenment, became a defining era of modernity. The University of Jena played a decisive role in this: it was a magnet for the leading academic and literary minds of the time, whose ideas made Jena the centre of intellectual and cultural life in Germany.

To this day, the University of Jena is a place where interdisciplinary research on historical Romanticism is conducted and its diverse connections to the present are explored. The University is now pooling this expertise in its new Center for Romanticism Research, which will be officially opened on 11 November.

Interdisciplinary research and formats for the public

?With the founding of the Center for Romanticism Research, we want to create a place of exchange where innovative and interdisciplinary dialogue and research contexts can emerge that also have an impact on society beyond the University?, says apl. Prof. Dr Sandra Kerschbaumer, co-initiator and part of the management team of the new research institution alongside Prof. Dr Johannes Grave, Dr Britta Hochkirchen and Dr Helmut Hühn. The centre will bring together scientists from Jena and international experts to develop new projects and research activities. ?We not only want to strengthen collaborative research and teaching, but also involve cooperating cultural institutions and the interested public and offer formats such as readings, exhibitions and debates?, says Kerschbaumer.

For the summer semester 2026, for example, a series of events on the ?ambivalent power of the imagination? is planned, which will examine, among other things, the changes that the concept of ?imagination? underwent around 1800 and the areas in which imagination is still the subject of controversial debate today. Can a definition of imagination and creativity help to distinguish human capabilities from AI?

Research environment for the Cluster of Excellence ?Imaginamics?

The new Center for Romanticism Research builds on two successful research units at the University of Jena: the Research Training Group ?Modell Romantik?, funded by the German Research Foundation from 2015 to 2024, and the Research Center for European Romanticism, which was established in 2010. The latter is now being incorporated into the newly founded centre. Schiller's Garden House and the Goethe Laboratory are also key pillars of the new centre.

?These predecessor projects also provided an important environment in which the new Jena Cluster of Excellence ?Imaginamics? was able to emerge?, emphasizes Sandra Kerschbaumer. She sees the Center for Romanticism Research as one of the University's facilities whose expertise will support and enrich research on social imagining in the future.

Opening event

The renowned art historian Prof. Dr Cordula Grewe from Indiana University in Bloomington (USA), who is currently holding the first fellowship at the Jena Center for Romanticism Research, will speak at the centre's opening. She will give a lecture on ?Formen des arabesken Denkens und Gestaltens? (Forms of arabesque thinking and design). Pianist Daniel Heide from Weimar will give a recital on the piano, showcasing the arabesque as an independent instrumental form for the piano in Romantic compositions by Schumann and Brahms and linking it with Neue Musik. Two sculptural ?light columns? by Jena-based sculptor Robert Krainh?fner will also be presented.

Guests are welcome to attend the opening event. Registration is requested at romantikzentrum@uni-jena.de.