Water damage in Jena's Romantikerhaus

On the night of February 12, 2021, an accident occurred in Jena's Romantikerhaus, the true extent of which has only now become clear following the current building safety measures. The fact is that an alarm was triggered on the morning of February 12, which was caused by water ingress. An inspection of the building by the fire department quickly led to the cause, a water pipe on the upper floor of the museum that had burst due to the cold. The water had apparently spread over a long period of time and had already reached the foyer in the northwest wing of the building. After the supply pipe was shut off, the first initiatives of the Jena fire department and JenaKultur staff were aimed at securing the cultural assets. The results so far show a bit of luck in misfortune: there is only marginal damage to the exhibits, all of which can be repaired.

However, the situation is completely different for our most valuable object, the former home of the philosopher Johann Gottlieb Fichte. An inspection of the building revealed extensive structural damage. The historic clay ceilings in the north-west wing are heavily soaked and need to be removed, dried and restored to a considerable extent. These measures were started immediately under the expert management of KIJ (Kommunale Immobilien Jena). The extent of the damage is so extensive that it will probably take several months to repair and the Romantikerhaus will remain closed until the restoration is complete. The significance of the cultural monument extends far beyond the borders of Jena and refers not only to early Romanticism, whose intellectual dimension is still fascinatingly present today, but also to a great moment in modern intellectual history in general.