Zeiss Building 15, Office building in Jena, Germany.
Zeiss Building 15 is an office building at the core of the Zeiss factory grounds in Jena, rising to about 42 meters (138 ft). It forms part of a connected group of early 20th-century structures that once served the production of optical instruments.
Friedrich Pützer designed the building in 1915 for Carl Zeiss AG, which erected it on its factory grounds in western Jena following American models. Parts of the Zeiss optical workshops were housed inside. During the Second World War it was severely damaged and burned out almost completely; after a full renovation it now holds offices and apartments.
The building sits at the heart of the Zeiss grounds in Jena and shows how closely the city's identity is tied to precision optics. Walking past it today, you can still read in its facade the sober language of early industrial design.
The building is still in office use and can be seen from outside during a walk through the Zeiss grounds. The southwest side gives the clearest view of the full facade and the steel roof structure above it.
Bau 15 is regarded as the oldest high-rise building in Germany, completed in 1915 to a design by Friedrich Pützer for Carl Zeiss AG. It rose 42 metres over eleven floors on the Zeiss factory grounds west of Jena's old centre, modelled on American examples. Badly damaged in the Second World War and almost burned out, it was fully renovated and now holds offices and apartments.
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