30 years of the Jena Statistical Office

"Statistics is a summary of methods that allow us to make rational decisions in the face of uncertainty."
W. Allen Wallis; Harry V. Roberts: Statistics: A New Approach (1956)

Since February 1, 1991, Jena's figures and values have been recorded and processed by the statistics office and made available to official bodies and the public.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the city of Jena made initial efforts to establish municipal statistics. However, this could not be realized at first due to a lack of funds. During the GDR era, statistical surveys were centralized. An independent municipal statistics office was set up during the political transition. Today, this is part of the Controlling and Statistics team and is managed by team leader Christian Heise.

The range of tasks of the Jena statistics office is diverse. In addition to ongoing work such as the quarterly statistical report or the entry of new house numbers in the Jena street directory, the statistics office is also responsible for recurring major projects. These include the census, updating the population forecast and election reporting. Current tasks include processing the latest Covid-19 case numbers and statistics on the pandemic and how it is being managed.

An anniversary publication provides an exciting insight into the diverse world of Jena's municipal statistics and highlights special milestones in its 30-year history. It shares information about the city of light that not everyone knows.

Benjamin Koppe, Head of the Department of Finance, Security and Citizen Services, points out the independence of the statistics office: "The statistics office has been collecting data from the city of Jena and processing it for various purposes since its inception. This data forms the basis for analyses and forecasts and guides the political actions of the administration and the city council. My heartfelt thanks go to my colleagues at the Jena Statistics Office and to all those who have supported them over the past 30 years."

The brochure is available for download.