Accommodation
We have made arrangements for discounts with the following hotels:
Hotel Eulensteins (18 rooms):
- book before 6th February 2026 by email (!) with the booking code Kongress Mai26
- Rooms:
- single: 88€ per night
- double: 113€ per night
- Breakfast 15€ per person\day
- refundable cancellations up 7 days prior arrival date
Hotel Schwarzer Bär (40 rooms)
- Rooms:
- single: 80€ (standard) or 95€ (comfort) per night
- double: 115€ (standard) or 130€ (comfort) per night
- book before 31st January 2026 with the booking code IAEA-Kongress
- Breakfast 20€ per person\day
- refundable cancellations up 4 weeks prior arrival date
Dorint ⋅ Hotel Esplanade (40 rooms)
- search with the code IAEA 2026_ABRUF on their website
- Standard Room: 149€ (1 person) or 184€ (2 people)
other options:
Travel
Airports:
- For most, the larger international airports in Berlin or Frankfurt will be most convenient, from there it takes about 3.5 hours on the train to get to Jena.
- For some the airports in Erfurt, Dresden or Leipzig may also be an option, again you can then connect to Jena by train.
Trains:
- There are multiple train stations in Jena: Paradiesbahnhof, Westbahnhof, Jena-Göschwitz, Saalbahnhof
- From most places you will likely have to change trains in Erfurt.
- You can book train tickets through Deutsche Bahn. Their cheapest options are the Super-Spar-Preise, however keep in mind that these are non-refundable if you have to cancel or change your travel plans; If you need this flexibility you will have to book one of the higher price classes.
Public Transport within Jena:
- Buses and trams take you around Jena. You can find more information here.
Jena and beyond
In Jena three locations are important to know for the congress:
- Here the opening event of the congress will take place on 5th May.
- This is the main congress venue.
- Here the closing reception will take place on 8th May.
- The museum was founded in 1907 by the zoologist Ernst Haeckel, who was deeply interested in evolution, form, and the unity of art and science. Haeckel’s artistic-scientific illustrations (e.g. from Kunstformen der Natur) were incorporated into the decorative art of the museum building — especially the ceilings, friezes, façade ornamentation etc.
- Main displays:
- Medusa Hall (“Medusensaal”) / Ceiling Paintings: The Museum has special halls (in particular the Medusensaal) whose ceilings were decorated with stylized cnidarians (jelly-fish, etc). These were painted in 1908, based on coloured lithographs by Haeckel (his works Kunstformen der Natur, System der Medusen, Tiefsee-Medusen).
- Ornamental Façade & Interior Decoration: The architecture and decoration of the building incorporate motifs from Haeckel’s work: “Tree of Life” (a motif) and the words Ontogenie and Phylogenie are inscribed on the façade. These are key biological concepts/hypotheses Haeckel developed. Window brustrings (balustrades), façade ornamentation, friezes etc. were also decorated with ornamented designs inspired by Haeckel’s botanical, marine, organismic drawings.
Outside of Jena, we will offer the option of a pre-conference visit to the
You may want to grab a coffee in Erfurt while waiting for your connecting train or wander through the Park an der Ilm to Goethe’s Garden house in Weimar, if you have the time.
You can find some additional locations that might be interesting to see or where you can grab something to eat\drink on the map below.