THE WONDER OF JENA

Elbie Gimble

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Germany - The Wonder of Jena

(Entries in alphabetical order)

jena-nichols

Alfred "Bull" Nichols: (1852-1913) An American writer who was born in Lebanon, Connecticut. He helped people learn German by writing textbooks like "Modern German Prose" and "An Easy German Reader". He died in Concord, Massachusetts, when he was 61 years old. His grave is in Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It's important to remember that this Alfred Bull Nichols is not the same person as Alfred E. Bull, who was a famous football player, coach, and dentist from a different time.

jena-museum

Deutsches Museum: Located in Munich, Germany, it is one of the oldest and largest museums of science and technology in the world. Founded in 1903, it holds a huge collection of old items from different areas of science and technology, like airplanes, energy, and ways of communicating. It's known for its fun exhibits that let visitors try things out and truly understand scientific ideas. The museum wants to show how science and technology have helped people make progress throughout history.

jena-elbe

Elbe River: (SEE Map) A very important waterway in the middle of Europe. It starts in the Czech Republic (present day) and flows through Germany, and eventually reaches the North Sea near Hamburg. For hundreds of years, the Elbe has been crucial for trade and transportation, helping connect places far from the coast to the sea. Many important cities and factories grew up along its banks, using the river for power and to reach markets for their goods.

Flughafen Fuhlsbüttel: The official name for Hamburg Airport, which is one of the oldest airports in Germany. It opened in 1911 in the Fuhlsbüttel area of Hamburg. Over many years, it has become a large international airport that plays an important role in connecting northern Germany to the rest of the world for both people traveling and goods being shipped.

jena-flughafen

jena-germany

Germany: (SEE Map) A large country in Central Europe with a very interesting past. It has played a big part in European culture, science, and making things. Early in the 1900s, Germany was a leader in new technologies, especially in areas like building things (engineering), cars, and airplanes. Today, it's known for having a strong economy, many different types of beautiful land, and important contributions to art and ways of thinking. In the German language, the country is called Deutschland, which means "The People's Land".

jena-hamburg

Hamburg: (SEE Map) A big port city in northern Germany. It's located on the Elbe River and has been a very important place for trading, shipping, and businesses for hundreds of years. It's actually one of the biggest ports in Europe. Hamburg is also a lively city with lots of culture, known for its old warehouses, canals, and new buildings.

jena-hotel

Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten: A famous fancy hotel in Hamburg, Germany. It opened in 1897 and is known for its beautiful style, excellent service, and great spot right next to Lake Alster. The name "Vier Jahreszeiten" means "Four Seasons" in German. The hotel was called this because it was the first hotel in Munich to be open all year round, through all four seasons. It's important to know that this Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten is not connected to the present-day Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts chain.

jena-eckener

Hugo Eckener: (1868-1954) A very important person in making German airships (Zeppelins) in the early 1900s. After Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin died, Eckener took charge of the company that built Zeppelins, called Luftschiffbau Zeppelin. He was a great pilot and strongly believed that these large, rigid airships would be good for carrying people on trips. He helped design and operate famous Zeppelins like the Graf Zeppelin and the Hindenburg. Eckener thought that airships were the future for safe and comfortable long-distance travel.

jena-hydrogen

Hydrogen: (H) The lightest and most common chemical element in the whole universe. Here on Earth, it's usually a gas that you can't see or smell. Because it's so light, people used to fill early airships and Zeppelins with hydrogen to make them float. However, hydrogen catches fire very easily. This led to accidents, like the Hindenburg disaster, where a Zeppelin exploded in 1937. Because of these safety worries, hydrogen was eventually replaced with safer gases like helium, when they were available.

jena-jena

Jena, Germany: (SEE Map) Pronounced YEE-na. A lively city in the German state of Thuringia, located in the beautiful Saale river valley. It's well-known for its schools and research centers, including the Friedrich Schiller University, which started in 1558, and the Ernst-Abbe-Hochschule Jena. Jena has a strong economy, especially in high-tech areas like optics and photonics (which is about light and how it's used). It's even called a research capital. The city is also home to the Carl Zeiss AG company, a worldwide leader in making optical tools like microscopes and camera lenses. Beyond its focus on education and technology, Jena has a rich history and culture, which you can see in places like its 14th-century town hall and old fort walls. The city is surrounded by lovely nature, offering many outdoor activities and a surprising variety of wild orchids. Jena also has a lively arts scene with theaters, orchestras, and many events throughout the year.

jena-lift

Lift (Principle in Physics): The force that pushes an aircraft or airship up into the air, working against gravity. For airships like Zeppelins, lift happens because they are filled with a gas like hydrogen or helium, which is lighter than the air around them. This makes the entire airship lighter than the same amount of air, causing it to float up. For planes and similar flying machines, lift is created by the shape of their wings. As air moves over the wing, it has to travel a longer distance above the wing than below it. This creates lower pressure above the wing, which pulls the plane upward, providing lift.

jena-luftschiffbau

Luftschiffbau Zeppelin: A German company that built flying machines called Zeppelins. It was started in 1908 by Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, who invented them. This company became famous all over the world for making huge, rigid airships, which are what Zeppelins are. In the early 1900s, these airships were very advanced in technology. They were first used by the military, and later became well-known for elegant trips carrying people across oceans.

jena-mercedes

Mercedes 28/95 PS Sport: (1921) A really fast and fancy car for the time. Even though it was built with racing in mind, regular people could buy it as a powerful luxury car. It had a big 7.2-liter, six-cylinder engine that started with 90 horsepower. What made it extra special for its time was that it was one of the first Mercedes cars to come with brakes on all four wheels, a safety feature that

came from racing. You could even get different looks for the car from special body builders. Its success in races, like winning a class and having the fastest lap time at the 1921 Targa Florio race, helped make Mercedes known for making powerful and desirable cars.

jena-munich

Munich, Germany: (SEE Map) München in German, meaning, “Home of the Monks,” it is the capital city of Bavaria, a state in Germany. It's Germany's third-largest city, located along the Isar River, just north of the Alps mountains. It started as a small settlement of monks in 1158 and grew into a big European center for art, buildings, culture, and science under the rule of a royal family called the House of Wittelsbach. Many people around the world know Munich for its yearly Oktoberfest celebration and its fun beer gardens. But it also has amazing museums, like the Alte Pinakothek and the Deutsches Museum, and beautiful parks like the Englischer Garten. You can see its long and interesting history, including how it grew and recovered from two World Wars, in its old buildings and historic places.

jena-oberweisenfeld

Oberweisenfeld: An area in Munich, Germany, that used to be a large open space. In the early 1900s, it was an important airfield where airplanes landed and took off, helping aviation develop. It was also a key spot for airships like Zeppelins to land. Later, this area was completely changed and became the Olympic Park for the 1972 Summer Olympics.

jena-oktoberfest

Oktoberfest: The biggest beer festival and fun fair in the world. It happens every year in Munich, Germany, usually starting in mid-September and going into October. Millions of people from all over the world come to enjoy traditional Bavarian food, beer, and carnival rides. It's a huge party that celebrates Bavarian culture and brings many visitors to the city.

jena-planetarium

Planetarium: A special theater designed to teach and entertain you about stars and the night sky. It has a big, round ceiling that works like a screen. A special machine projects images of stars, planets, and other things in space onto this dome, and you can even see them move. The very first modern planetarium, which used a projection system instead of moving models, was created by a man named Walther Bauersfeld for the Zeiss company in Germany in the early 1920s. Around the world, there are many other famous planetariums that are still open today, like the Hayden Planetarium in New York City, the Adler Planetarium in Chicago, the Nagoya City Science Museum Planetarium in Japan, and the Shanghai Planetarium in China.

jena-bauersfeld

Walther Bauersfeld: (1879-1959) A German engineer and physicist who worked for the Carl Zeiss optical company. He is best known for inventing the modern planetarium projector, the Zeiss Mk I Projector, in the early 1920s. This invention revolutionized how people learned about astronomy, enabling accurate projections of the night sky onto a dome, making the cosmos accessible to the public.

jena-projector

Zeiss Mark I Projector: (SEE Diagram below) The first modern planetarium projector. It was invented by Walther Bauersfeld and built by the Carl Zeiss company in Jena, Germany in the early 1920s. This device could project images of stars, planets, and constellations onto a domed ceiling. This created an immersive experience of the night sky. This led to the creation of planetariums worldwide, which made astronomical education more accessible.

jena-zeppelin

Zeppelin: (SEE Diagram below) Zeppelins were big, rigid airships named after their inventor, Ferdinand von Zeppelin. They were very popular for air travel in the early 1900s. These huge flying machines had a strong metal frame covered with fabric, and inside were many pockets filled with a light gas called hydrogen, which made them float. Unlike blimps, Zeppelins kept their shape because of this inside frame. They completely changed long-distance travel, especially flights across the Atlantic Ocean. People could enjoy a fancy trip with dining rooms, lounges, and walkways. However, the time of the Zeppelins suddenly ended because of a terrible accident in 1937 called the Hindenburg disaster. A Zeppelin filled with hydrogen caught fire and exploded when it was landing. This tragedy, along with new and better airplanes being invented, stopped people from using Zeppelins for passenger travel. Even though those huge, old Zeppelins are not used anymore, there are modern ones called Zeppelin NTs that use safer helium gas and newer technology. They are still used for fun scenic rides and special jobs today.

jena-zeppdiag

jena-map

Map of Germany, around 1923

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The information included in this work has been researched and verified to the best of my abilities and may possibly contain errors. It is purley my intent to interest young people and others in the subject matter, historical events, and scientific breakthroughs that these stories contain. Traditional internet searches as well as help from various AI sources have been used in my attempt to maintain accuracy. If any of this information is erroneous or incorrect, I sincerely apologize. If you see any corrections that should be made, please contact us via the chat feature of this site.

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