| 1968 – Resolution of the Council of Ministers | |
 “Eichplatz” around 1920 |
1968 the Council of Ministers of the GDR decides to reorganise the city centre of Jena For the microelectronic research at Carl Zeiss a salient multi-storeyed building is intended, numerous new buildings should be built in the prefabricated manner. |
| 1969 – Outline and first cut of the spade | ||
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1969 – exempted from the squander of the Second World War – delightful living and business quarters around the “Eichplatz” are demolished. | |
| On the 20th of June the first cut of the spade takes place, the establishment of the research multi-storeyed building begins. |  |
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| 1972 – Solemn inauguration of
the multi-storeyed building |
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 The “Eichplatz” in the year 1972 |
Solemnly on the 2nd of October the “place of the cosmonauts”
along with the multi-storeyed building – “the tower”
– are inaugurated. Due to economic obligations the overall land development project of the city centre was reduced to the tower and its base projectile. Besides this the building proved unsuitable for the purposes of the Zeiss work. Therefore it was handed over to the “Friedrich Schiller University” for use as reading halls and offices – an unwanted gift, because the conditions of work were also not favourable for the university. |
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| 1972 to 1989 — “cookie role” | |
| On the ground floor projectile a restaurant opens, in 26th
floor a viewing platform and a Café. The tower always remains disputed – to the locals, it is soon known as the “cookie role” or “Penis Jenensis”. |
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To this day the older Jenensians have not gotten over the loss of the old “Eichplatz”. Nevertheless the building belongs inseparably to today's Jena and its townscape. |
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| 1995 | |
| In 1995 the university vacates the building – leaving only the refectory in the entrance hall and some technical areas behind. | |
| 1998 | |
| The company Saller GmbH from Weimar, purchases the tower for a symbolic Mark, with the purchase a rebuilding and sanitation plan is to be implemented. | |
| 1999 | |
| The 15th of March the demolition work inside the tower begins. |
| 2000 — the beginning of the sanitation work | |
| The middle of May sees the beginning of the sanitation work in conjunction with the demolition of the 30 year old aluminium and glass facade. After long discussions regarding the use of the tower, the company Intershop Communications AG completely rents the tower. Since the 17th of July – starting with the 26th floor – a new mirror facade is put into place. The locals pursue the gradual “new coating” of its landmark with sceptic. Remarkable is that in all respects the towers construction site can probably be considered as the quietest construction site in the roaring modernisation of Jena. After the closing of the refectory during the Summer semesters 2000, a large breach of the towers projectile base was made, to make way for a 172 meter crane – the largest in Germany – with this crane all the old building materials were shipped from the different floors to the basement and also the “two” new floors of the tower were added along with a new antenna system. With these additions the tower has become the largest office building within the new German states. A height of 144,90 meters. |
| 2001 | |
| In August the new Tower restaurant “SCALA”
in the 28th floor is opened. And now a new part in local history is about to be played. |
