Ernst-Haeckel-Haus

thumb|right|Ernst-Haeckel-Haus, view of the exterior Ernst-Haeckel-Haus, also known as Villa Medusa, is a building and an institution of the Faculty of Biological Sciences of the University of Jena in Jena, Germany. The building houses the Chair for the History and Philosophy of Science, as well as the archives of biologist Ernst Haeckel, and a museum. It is one of Germany's oldest institutes dedicated to the history of science, founded in 1920. It was conceived during Haeckel's lifetime; he died in 1919. The villa was built from 1882 to 1883 in an Italianate style, and contains decorative elements inspired by jellyfish. The villa is open to the public through guided tours.

==History== The house was built as a residence for biologist Ernst Haeckel in 1882–1883, in an Italianate style. Haeckel spent much of his career as a marine biologist, and published richly illustrated books presenting marine life forms in an artistic way, notably in Kunstformen der Natur. The interior of his own house was also decorated with lamps and painted ceiling ornaments directly inspired by the forms of jellyfish; some of the decorations have survived. The decorations also gave the villa its name (jellyfish being the medusa-phase of certain gelatinous members of the subphylum Medusozoa). Haeckel's own drawing of a jellyfish found in the waters of Sri Lanka served as a ceiling decoration in the dining room. thumb|right|Interior view of Haeckel's former study The house was built in the vicinity of the newly erected zoological institute. Haeckel and his family lived in the villa until his death in 1919. Haeckel also used the house as his workplace.