Jen-Tower

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JenTower in Jena

The JenTower is a multistoried building in Jena, Germany.

1 Common names
2 Buildings in vicinity
3 Construction
4 Use
5 Double tower
6 See also
7 External links

[edit] Common names

The tower has been known by many names, official and unofficial. Until January 2005, the tower was called the Intershop Tower after its principal tenant, Intershop Communications AG. On November 30, 2004 the building was renamed as JenTower. Until 1995 the building was used by the Friedrich Schiller University Jena, and is therefore also colloquially known as University Tower. Further unofficial names include Phallus Jenensis, Cookie Roll (Keksrolle), or Henselmann tower, after the architecht Hermann Henselmann.

[edit] Buildings in vicinity

The JenTowers stands directly opposite to the so-called Building 15, which was the first German multistoried building. Building 15 was erected in to a height of 43 meters in 1915, from plans by architect Friedrich Puetzer (1871-1922). Other buildings in the neighborhood are Building 36 (today seat of the Jenoptik AG) and Building 59 (Carl Zeiss Jena Research building), likewise sketched by Henselmann.

[edit] Construction

The architect of the tower was Hermann Henselmann, one of the most famous architects of the former German Democratic Republic. The idea of a monolithic tower as "Urban crown" was developed by Bruno Taut, during his time as city architect in Magdeburg in the 1920s.

Construction began in June 1969, in a residential and business quarter spared by the Second World War. The foundation stone was laid on April 30, 1970. The construction took place in sliding scarf building method, and was completed on October 2, 1972 at the original height of 127 meters. The circular tower is a reinforced concrete construction with 2 basements, 3.20 m thick mat foundation and a diameter of 33 meters. In 1999 the building was sold to an investor who completed modernization in 2001. At this time, two additional floors and an UMTS antenna were added, and the 28th and 29th floors were converted into a restaurant. At 30 floors and 159 meters including the spire, the building is the tallest in the former-East Germany, and the ninth-highest in Germany. Without the spire the highrise measures 122 meters.

[edit] Use

Jen-Tower was originally planned as office building for the collective combine Carl Zeiss Jena, but was never used for this purpose. When the building was used by Friedrich Schiller University Jena, the base of the tower housed the refectory of the university.

[edit] Double tower

There is a persistent rumor that original plans included an identical twin tower, which was to be connected with a bridge and binoculars as a symbol for Jena's optical tool-making industry. Investigations by historians of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena at the beginning of the 90's did not confirm this rumor however.