Future Center European Transformation and German Unity

The city of Jena, together with the Friedrich Schiller University Jena, will apply for the establishment of the "Future Center for European Transformation and German Unity" (ZET) in Jena. The public application process will kick off with a WorldCafé format on May 5, 2022, starting at 7 p.m. in the Rathausdiele of the Historisches Rathaus, Markt 1, 07743 Jena. Citizens of the city of Jena and interested parties are invited to gather ideas and discuss various transformation experiences together. In addition, the application organization will be presented to the participants and first insights into concept ideas will be given.

Dr. Thomas Nitzsche, Lord Mayor of Jena: "Historically, Jena has always been a city where change did not just happen, but was actively shaped - transformation. The individual experiences of change of the people in Jena, the broad civil society and a citizenry focused on co-determination have significantly contributed to the successful development of Jena, especially in the decades since the reunification of Germany. Now the citizens, with their experience of change and their ideas, should also be actively involved in the current application process for the Future Center."

Nitzsche sees the application for the ZET as an opportunity to steer a visitor magnet with European appeal to Jena. The federal government is funding the project with 200 million euros, and more than 200 jobs could be created in Jena as a result. In its final report, the "30 Years of Peaceful Revolution and German Unity" commission appointed by the federal government in April 2019 recommended that a future center of this kind be established in eastern Germany. It is to consist of three pillars: a scientific institute, a center for dialogue and encounter, and a museum.

"Another weighty requirement on the part of the federal government describes the development of a significant, identity-creating architecture for the building to be erected in a central location, for which there will basically be no entrance fee to visit," says Martin Fischer from the central process and project management department of the city of Jena.

According to Jonas Zipf, plant manager of Jenakultur, the Future Center is about "changing social systems in the East since 1989, but also about the great transformational challenges regarding Eastern Europe of our time. There is no place for this in the entire Federal Republic so far."

The university is actively supporting the city in the nationwide competition for the Future Center. "What is special about the Future Center is the connection between science, society and culture. Our goal is to create a place in Jena that, based on internationally networked research, not only allows the upheavals and fractures in Eastern Europe before and after 1989-1991 to be experienced, but also to be discussed openly and controversially," says University President Prof. Dr. Walter Rosenthal , explaining the university's motivation.

Tilo Schieck from the application team wishes "that the Future Center becomes an open, friendly place where many like to come. A place to listen, a place to talk, a place for discussion and exchange. And I wish for the center to become a space where we reflect together on what meaning our memories and attitudes and experiences from the Eastern European region of the past years can have for the present and the changes of the coming times."

The "WorldCafé" format briefly explained

In a World Café, participants sit at round tables. The tablecloths are made of paper and serve as notepads. This allows all participants to jot down and add to ideas and thoughts. In relation to "Science", "Dialog" and" Culture", the three pillars of the center, but also to the location itself, ideas, impulses, experiences, opinions and perspectives for the Jena application for the Future Center can be collected together.