Optical Museum Jena, Science museum in Carl-Zeiss-Platz, Jena, Germany.

The Deutsches Optisches Museum is a science museum in Jena displaying optical instruments spanning eight centuries. The collections include microscopes, telescopes, spectroscopes, and precision measurement devices from different historical periods.

The Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung founded the Optical Museum in June 1922, and its exhibition first stood in the neighbouring Volkshaus. The reinforced concrete building at Carl-Zeiss-Platz 12 was designed by Johannes Schreiter and Hans Schlag for the State Optics School founded in 1917, built in 1923/24 by Dyckerhoff & Widmann of Nuremberg. In October 1924 the collection moved in, reserved at first for a select group of researchers.

The museum demonstrates how Jena became a center for optical technology through the work of key figures like Ernst Abbe and Carl Zeiss. The collections show how their innovations shaped the city and influenced precision work across Europe.

The museum has been closed since 7 July 2019 for a full renovation and redesign, expected to last until 2028. The building at Carl-Zeiss-Platz 12 is being gutted and the exhibition rebuilt as an experimental optics experience. Confirm the reopening date through official channels before planning a visit.

The collection includes a silver dissectible eye model from the French royal court made before 1700, showing how early scholars understood human vision. This rare artifact demonstrates the attempts to explain sight centuries before modern optical technology existed.