  The design and performance of a newly developed cluster jet target
installation for hadron physics experiments are presented which, for the first
time, is able to generate a hydrogen cluster jet beam with a target thickness
of above $10^{15}\,\mathrm{atoms/cm}^2$ at a distance of two metres behind the
cluster jet nozzle. The properties of the cluster beam and of individual
clusters themselves are studied at this installation. Special emphasis is
placed on measurements of the target beam density as a function of the relevant
parameters as well as on the cluster beam profiles. By means of a
time-of-flight setup, measurements of the velocity of single clusters and
velocity distributions were possible. The complete installation, which meets
the requirements of future internal fixed target experiments at storage rings,
and the results of the systematic studies on hydrogen cluster jets are
presented and discussed.
