ABSTRACT
Major changes awaited Semon in Jena. He had so far known only the fastpaced, cosmopolitan lifestyle that characterized virtually every aspect of existence in Berlin. But neither the bustle of Unter den Linden nor the spartan majesty of the Brandenburg Gate were to be found in the small Thuringian town nestled in the mountains of the Saale river valley. Jena, though, offered a natural beauty and serene pace of life that immediately appealed to the displaced Berliner. Semon, an avid hiker and mountainclimber, frequently visited the nearby limestone mountains and thoroughly enjoyed the emphasis on outdoor, physical activity in his new rural environment. The locale that he would later affectionately refer to as his “ancient German town (Semon, 1899, p. 71)” also possessed a rich cultural tradition. The University housed some of Germany's most creative minds when it was a center of German romanticism and Naturphilosophie at the close of the 18th century. Schiller, Fichte, Hegel, Schelling, and Oken all held teaching posts at Jena, and Goethe, at work in nearby Weimar, maintained a lasting affection for the University and spent much time there (see Steinmetz, 1958). There were, to be sure, some bitter memories associated with the city: No German could think of Jena without being painfully reminded of Napoleon's conquest there in 1806.
