Christian Wulff visits Jena science and technology hubs

Former German President Christian Wulff visited Jena on October 22, 2026, at the invitation of the St. Michael Church Foundation. The visit was part of the annual Michaelsbegegnung event, which brought together approximately 200 guests from politics, business, science, and society.

Wulff delivered a keynote lecture titled ‘Peace, Democracy, Europe: The Role of Christianity.’ In addition to the foundation's event, the former president toured Jena's high-tech and scientific facilities to observe the city's development as an international center for optics and photonics.

His itinerary included visits to the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering (IOF) and the ZEISS high-tech site. At the Fraunhofer IOF, discussions focused on current research in quantum communication and the strategic cooperation between science, industry, and politics that helped transform Jena into a leading technology location following the shifts of the 1990s.