Carl Zeiss

For more information on Carl Zeiss, visit Britannica.com.

Type: Subsidiary
On the web: http://www.zeiss.de
Employees: 13,041

Carl Zeiss puts things into sharp focus. The company manufactures a variety of optical and related products, for use in the medical equipment, industrial, and lifestyle industries. The company's products include microscopes, precision measuring systems, eyeglass lenses and frames, camera lenses, surveying equipment, riflescope lenses, and binoculars. Its microscopy systems are used for biomolecular research and drug development. Other products include industrial measurement equipment and lenses used in planetariums and astronomical instruments. The company operates in 30 countries, with nearly 85% of sales generated outside Germany. Independent foundation Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung owns the company.

Key numbers for fiscal year ending September, 2008:
Sales: $4,095.8M

Officers:
Chairman: Eggert Voscherau
President, CEO, and Director: Dieter Kurz
Director Marketing, Business Strategy, and Press Relations, Carl Zeiss IMT: Marc Wagener

Competitors:
Corning
Nikon
Olympus

Founded: 1846
NAIC: 333314 Optical Instrument and Lens Manufacturing; 333295 Semiconductor Machinery Manufacturing; 333315 Photographic and Photocopying Equipment Manufacturing; 334516 Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing; 334519 Other Measuring and Controlling Device Manufacturing; 339112 Surgical and Medical Instrument Manufacturing; 339115 Ophthalmic Goods Manufacturing
SIC: 3827 Optical Instruments & Lenses; 3861 Photographic Equipment & Supplies; 3826 Analytical Instruments; 3829 Measuring & Controlling Devices Nec; 3841 Surgical & Medical Instruments; 3851 Ophthalmic Goods

Based in Oberkochen, Germany, Carl Zeiss AG is a global leader in the optical and optoelectronic industry. A stock corporation wholly owned by the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung, Carl Zeiss AG develops, produces, and sells high-quality precision-engineered optical glass and electronic products, including ophthalmic products, binoculars, camera lenses, medical and surgical instruments and systems, microscopes, lithography optics for semiconductor production, and measuring instruments. Carl Zeiss has, as a percentage of sales, one of Germany's highest research and development (R&D) budgets; each year the company plows about 10 percent of its revenues into R&D, and 16 percent of its employees work in R&D. With 13 production plants in seven countries--Germany, France, Hungary, the United States, Mexico, China, and Belarus--branches and subsidiaries in 32 countries, and a sales network encompassing more than 100 countries around the world, Carl Zeiss generates 84 percent of its revenues outside Germany. Other European nations account for 47 percent of sales, with the Americas bringing in 23 percent and Asia responsible for 13 percent.

The history of Carl Zeiss AG is closely associated with that of the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung, a "juridical person" under German civil law, and the sole owner of Carl Zeiss and its sister company, the Mainz-based glassmaker Schott AG. The Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung has no private or state associates, and no shareholders. Stiftung is sometimes inaccurately translated as a special type of "foundation," a term suggesting an institution with purely charitable or scientific aims. The Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung, however, is a business organization with specific technological, scientific, economic, and social aims and functions. Usually companies are owned by individuals, banks, or states. Carl Zeiss AG (and Schott AG), however, are owned by the Stiftung and owe much of their character to its 1896 statute provisions.

Microscopic Origins

The origins of Carl Zeiss AG date from 1846, when Carl Zeiss, later awarded the title of university mechanic by the Grand Duke of Sachsen-Weimar, opened an instrument maker's shop in the German town of Jena. He soon specialized in the manufacture of microscopes. At the request of Carl Zeiss, the physicist Ernst Abbe developed the wave theory of microscopic imaging and, based on this theory, designed instruments with better resolution power and better color rendition than was hitherto possible. These improved microscopes sold from 1872, and--in particular microscopes with homogenous immersion objectives, introduced in 1877, and those with apochromatic objectives, available in 1886--greatly assisted bacteriologists' identification of infectious bacteria.

At that time the availability of only a small number of glass types with different optical properties limited progress in microscope image quality. In 1884 the chemist Otto Schott, together with Ernst Abbe, Carl Zeiss, and the latter's son Roderich, established a glass research laboratory, which developed into the Jenaer Glaswerk Schott & Genossen. By 1886, 44 different types of optical glass were in production. In cooperation with Ernst Abbe, Otto Schott carried out systematic research work into the dependence of optical and other glass on chemical composition. Schott's inventions included thermometer glass and chemical- and heat-resistant borosilicate glass. His optical glass contributed to the development of modern optical instruments. For microscopes and later also for telescopes, optical systems with apochromatic correction (considerably reduced color aberrations) were designed.

Abbe's achievements as a social reformer of employment conditions were as significant as his scientific innovations. In 1889, the year following the death of Carl Zeiss, Abbe founded the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung, which in 1891 he made the sole owner of the Zeiss works and a partner in the Schott works. In 1919 Schott made his own share of the glass works available to the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung, which thus became the sole owner of both enterprises. In the 1896 statute of the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung, Ernst Abbe formulated its aims and principles. The guiding principle of the Zeiss and Schott works and their associated enterprises throughout the world was to secure their economic, scientific, and technological future and in this way to improve the job security of their employees. The Stiftung's enterprises were obliged to produce high-quality, precision-engineered instruments, optical glass, and similar products, to fulfill long-term social welfare obligations to their employees, to support science and technology outside as well as within the enterprises, and to participate in projects that served the general good. The employment and careers of employees would depend only on their capabilities and performance, not on their origin, religion, or political views. The employees were to elect their own representation on the works council, and they received the right to a fixed minimum income, paid holidays, sickness benefit, profit sharing, disablement and pension benefits, and a nine-hour day, all of which was realized as early as 1896. In 1900 the eight-hour day was introduced.

Early Diversification and Growth

This scientific and social basis was reinforced economically by product diversification and by a growing export organization. In addition to microscopes, Zeiss marketed photo lenses from 1890, measuring instruments from 1893, and terrestrial telescopes from 1894. Astronomical optics followed in 1897, medical instruments in 1898, photogrammetrical instruments in 1901, surveying instruments in 1908, and eyeglasses in 1912. Schott solved the cooling problem for large optical components with a diameter of up to 1.4 meters, as early as 1894. In 1913 Schott offered 97 types of optical glass, and by 1923 the number had increased to 114.

International relations were cultivated at an early stage. Zeiss visited the Paris World Fair in 1867, and Schott was repeatedly active as a manager in Spain, establishing a chemical factory in Oviedo and a production facility for window glass in Reinosa. These were not, however, owned by Schott. Abbe exchanged ideas with British microscopists, and from 1878 he published papers in English.

In 1899 about two-thirds of Zeiss instruments were sold abroad. A network of branches and agencies was built up, beginning with Zeiss sales offices in London, in 1901, and Vienna, in 1902. Branch factories were established in Vienna; in Györ, Hungary; Riga; and London in the first years of the 20th century.

In this period the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung financed a number of projects for the benefit of Jena University and of the community, including a university building in 1908 and the Volkshaus, literally the "People's House," but in reality a palace with a library, museums, lecture halls, and a concert hall. Other projects in which the Stiftung was involved included a school of opticians, a children's hospital, and public baths.

At this time, the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung's constituent businesses, according to its statute, did not have a president but had several board members instead. This arrangement provided a degree of continuity even if a manager retired or died. When Abbe retired in 1903 and died in 1905, Otto Schott, Siegfried Czapski, and Rudolf Straubel took over the burden of responsibility. Longstanding leaders of the organization included Erich Schott, who created a glass electric division in the glass works and was a board member from 1927 to 1968, and Walther Bauersfeld, who was a Zeiss board member from 1908 to 1959. Bauersfeld received worldwide esteem for his invention of a planetarium, which strikingly demonstrated the real and apparent movements of the sun, moon, fixed stars, and planets by projection on the inside of a dome.

The reputation of the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung, the excellence of its products, and the commercial success of its enterprises had a far-reaching impact on the industries in which it was involved. Bausch & Lomb of Rochester, New York, acquired licenses from Zeiss, who bought shares in this U.S. company in 1908. World War I put an end to this successful collaboration in 1915. Another well-known microscope manufacturer, Rudolf Winkel of Göttingen, was reorganized in 1911 after some financial problems with the help of Carl Zeiss, which became the principal shareholder.

From 1910 to 1926 various German camera factories were amalgamated step-by-step into the Zeiss Ikon AG, famous for its Contax brand. In 1910 Zeiss acquired shares and in 1931 the majority of the Prontor-Werk Alfred Gauthier GmbH, later a producer of items for Carl Zeiss instruments. In 1927 the Schott works acquired a majority share in a company later called Schott-Zwiesel-Glaswerke AG that produced consumer glassware. Three years later a majority share was acquired in the company later known as Deutsche Spezialglas AG, a manufacturer of ophthalmic glass and various types of special technical glass. In 1928 Carl Zeiss acquired shares of the M. Hensoldt & Söhne Wetzlar Optische Werke AG, which later produced Carl Zeiss telescopes and rifle scopes. Hermann Anschütz-Kaempfe, the inventor of the gyrocompass, was impressed by the ideas of the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung, to which he offered majority share of his company Anschütz & Co. GmbH, producers of navigation instruments, shortly before his death in 1931.

Thanks to its solid foundations the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung survived through times of hardship. During World War I, the workforce was considerably enlarged because of the demands of rifle scope, distancemeter, and aerial camera production. After the war and the subsequent period of hyperinflation it became necessary to reduce personnel. In accordance with the statute of the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung, compensation for dismissal was paid.

In 1933 a National Socialist was appointed to the post of Stiftungskommissar (foundation deputy), as the one-man supervising authority of the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung. The board members and workforces of both enterprises, Carl Zeiss and Schott Glaswerke, offered concerted resistance. The foundation deputy was ousted from his post in 1934, and Abraham Esau, a professor loyal to the Stiftung, took his place.

After 1933 production of a wide range of glass materials, glass products, and optical instruments continued. New developments included the phase contrast microscope, the prototype of which was first seen in 1936, and a new instrument for rapid surveying, in 1942. During World War II demand for military optics, including range finders, rifle scopes, and periscopes, increased again. The additional workforce consisted of both Germans and laborers from occupied countries.

Postwar Reconstruction in a Divided Germany

In 1945, at the conclusion of World War II, with Jena situated in the Russian zone, U.S. troops brought the entire management and the leading scientists of the enterprises of the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung to Heidenheim in order that they not fall into Russian hands. Four years later, Heidenheim became its new legal base after the two Jena enterprises were expropriated in 1948 by the East German authorities without compensation. Only in West Germany could it continue its existence on the basis of Abbe's statute. The Schott Glaswerke and Carl Zeiss were thereby able to regain international renown for their numerous technical innovations.

Nevertheless, the 126 managers and scientists in West Germany had to overcome enormous difficulties. Having arrived without technical documents, they had to rely on memory. In 1946, in Oberkochen near Heidenheim, in what is today Baden-Württemberg, a new optical plant was established, initially in rented premises. This enterprise initially operated under the name Zeiss-Opton-Optische Werke Oberkochen GmbH, but was later simply known as Carl Zeiss (though often referred to as Carl Zeiss Oberkochen to distinguish it from the East German VEB Carl Zeiss Jena). The glass experts continued production in Zwiesel and Landshut, Bavaria, until 1952, when a new factory was opened in Mainz. The manufacture of microscopes was transferred to Göttingen and the facilities of Rudolf Winkel, which was fully taken over by Carl Zeiss in 1957. Carl Zeiss also acquired two spectacles factories--Marwitz & Hauser, in which it had acquired a majority shareholding in 1958, and Titmus Optical, Inc., of the United States--in 1974. The contact lens maker Wöhlk became a Zeiss subsidiary in 1980, when Carl Zeiss acquired a major stake.

After the postwar reconstruction of the company, the employment rights of the workers became effective once more; they had not been practicable during the state of emergency after World War II. On the occasion of this event Federal President Theodor Heuss visited Oberkochen on May 1, 1954, and stated: "German destiny is branded on few establishments of world significance as it is on this Zeiss establishment."

The original plants in Jena were dismantled by the Russian authorities in 1946, and more than 300 specialists were forced to work in Russia for some years. The Zeiss and Schott enterprises in Jena were temporarily struck off the trade register. Expropriation and nationalization of its former factories had removed the basis of the existence of the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung in Jena. Nevertheless, the factories in Jena were restored to working order as part of a state-owned enterprise called VEB Carl Zeiss Jena, which was created in 1948. By the 1960s, this entity was transformed into an East German "combine," eventually becoming the largest and most prestigious such conglomerate in the country. While continuing to produce microscopes, telescopes, medical instruments, and other optical products, and thereby competing directly with the West German Carl Zeiss, Carl Zeiss Jena also diversified into military technology, microchips, cameras, and a host of other areas. (Cameras provided an interesting contrast between Carl Zeiss east and west; the latter exited from camera making in 1971 under pressure from Japanese competitors, while the former started making cameras in 1986 at the prodding of the East German government.) Carl Zeiss Jena was so important to the East German economy that its head was also a member of the Communist Party Central Committee.

From 1954 there were legal disputes in many countries regarding the matter of identity of the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung and the use of the name Zeiss and its trademarks. In 1971 a compromise contract was finally drawn up in London. Under the contract, the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung, Heidenheim, could exclusively use its name and trademarks with the component Zeiss in West Germany and some other Western countries, including the United States. The Jena party received corresponding exclusive rights within the Comecon (Council for Mutual Economic Assistance, representing communist countries) and some other countries. In certain countries, such as the United Kingdom and Spain, both parties could use the name Zeiss. As far as the identity of the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung was concerned, the parties adhered to their differing opinions, each claiming to be the true representative of the foundation set up by Ernst Abbe. For the glass works, a settlement valid worldwide was reached in 1981; the enterprise in Mainz was renamed Schott Glaswerke, and the Jena enterprise took the name Jenaer Glaswerk.

Reunification

The July 1990 reunification of Germany provided the opportunity for the reuniting of the eastern and western Carl Zeiss enterprises. In February of that year the first exploratory talks were held between the two sides. In June 1990 Carl Zeiss Jena was converted into a limited company under the name Jenoptik Carl Zeiss Jena GmbH, the shares of which were acquired by the Treuhandanstalt, the Berlin-based agency in charge of privatizing the enterprises of what was soon to be the former East Germany. In November the two sides reached a general agreement to reunite, an agreement that also provided a framework for the restructuring of both Jenoptik Carl Zeiss and Jenaer Glaswerk.

By early 1991, then, Jenoptik Carl Zeiss had slashed its workforce by nearly 60 percent, from 69,000 to 25,800, and had jettisoned a number of noncore operations. In 1991, in anticipation of reunification, the Jena-based firm spun off its remaining nonoptical activities into a new entity called Jenoptik GmbH, which became owned by the state of Thuringia, where Jena is located. The optical activities were organized in the newly founded Carl Zeiss Jena GmbH. In June 1991 a final agreement was reached whereby Carl Zeiss Oberkochen took a 51 percent controlling stake in Carl Zeiss Jena, with the state of Thuringia, through its ownership of Jenoptik, holding the remaining 49 percent stake. In May 1995 the interest held by Jenoptik was acquired by the Oberkochen Carl Zeiss. In a similar manner, Schott Glaswerke took over ownership of Jenaer Glaswerk. The four Zeiss/Schott enterprises--Carl Zeiss Oberkochen, Schott Glaswerke, Carl Zeiss Jena, and Jenaer Glaswerk--were thereby fused within the umbrella of the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung. In a victory for the western side, the foundation was reconstituted based on the Heidenheim version of the charter, although in 1994 it adopted dual headquarters in Heidenheim and Jena. Rounding out the legal changes, Schott Glaswerke shortened its name to Schott Glas in 1997, while the Jena-based glass works were renamed Schott Jenaer Glas GmbH.

Despite nearly $400 million in assistance from the German government, the reunification proved extremely difficult. The eastern German companies continued to lose money into the late 1990s, in spite of further workforce reductions, which left only about 3,000 Zeiss workers in Jena (about 10,000 jobs went over to Jenoptik GmbH). The operations of Carl Zeiss Jena suffered from the loss of most of its reliable customers in Eastern Europe and Russia in the wake of the economic difficulties that accompanied the transition from state planning to capitalism. A deep recession in Germany did not help matters.

Period of Significant Restructuring

By late 1994, after several consecutive years in which Carl Zeiss had operated in the red, the board of the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung concluded that a more radical restructuring was needed. In early 1995 they brought an outsider, Peter Grassmann, onboard as the new CEO of Carl Zeiss to launch a deeper overhaul. Grassmann, a former executive at Siemens AG, quickly identified the company's ownership by the Stiftung as a main source of its troubles. Although the bylaws of the Stiftung enjoined the company to both look after its staff and make a profit, managers over the course of a couple of decades had focused too keenly on the former at the expense of the latter. As a result, only a very small percentage of the company's balance sheet stemmed from accumulated profits. Carl Zeiss's generous pension scheme, meanwhile, had created a pension fund that accounted for 60 percent of the balance sheet and had become the company's primary means of financing. In addition, wage increases had canceled out productivity gains, and managers had failed to address unprofitable businesses, by overhauling them, selling them, or shutting them down.

Grassmann moved quickly on a number of fronts. A further round of layoffs reduced Carl Zeiss's worldwide workforce from 15,900 to 12,900. A new, less expensive pension scheme was put in place in 1996, and the management of cash flow was improved through the standardization of information technology and accounting procedures. Over several years, in an effort to focus more attention on the company's core businesses, 20 or so subsidiaries from both the Oberkochen and Jena sides were sold, placed into joint ventures, or shuttered. Among these were Anschütz & Co., a $60 million producer of marine navigation equipment that was sold to Raytheon Company in 1995; the Jena-based amateur telescope division, which was shut down in 1995; and contact lens maker Wöhlk, which was sold to Bausch & Lomb Inc. in 2000. Joint ventures formed included LEO Electron Microscopy, Ltd., created in 1995 from the merger of the electron microscopy operations of Carl Zeiss and the Swiss firm Leica; and Z/I Imaging, a photogrammetry venture created with the U.S.-based American Intergraph Corporation in 1999. The remaining operations were reorganized into a handful of smaller customer-oriented business groups focusing on semiconductor technology, medical systems, consumer optics, microscopy, industrial metrology, and optoelectronic systems.

Among these groups, the one growing the fastest in the late 1990s was semiconductor technology. Carl Zeiss had become the world's leading producer of the lenses used inside wafer steppers, the machines used to etch intricate patterns on silicon wafers. The company had gained this position through a partnership with ASM Lithography Holding N.V. (ASML), a Dutch firm that was the world's largest producer of wafer steppers. In the 1993-94 fiscal year, Carl Zeiss had become ASML's sole supplier of lenses. The subsequent explosion in production of semiconductors in the late 1990s heightened demand for these lenses. By 2000, the semiconductor technology group was generating nearly one-quarter of the revenues at Carl Zeiss, and the company invested EUR 60 million to build a new plant at Oberkochen to meet the increased demand. This 45,000-square-meter plant, which the company touted as the most modern in Europe, opened in late 2001, employing some 1,000 workers.

By the 1999-2000 fiscal year, the restructuring of Carl Zeiss had begun to pay off. That year, the company was solidly in the black for the first time in years, and the balance sheet was much improved with EUR 219 million in cash flow, an increase of EUR 129 million over the previous year. Sales jumped 22 percent, to EUR 2 billion ($1.77 billion). Despite Grassmann's success in leading this turnaround, his contract was not renewed when it expired in December 2000, evidently because he had clashed along the way with both labor leaders and the commissioner of the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung, Heinz Dürr. Named to succeed Grassmann as CEO was Dieter Kurz, who had been with the company since 1979 and had at one time lead the semiconductor technology group.

Early 21st Century: Modernizing the Corporate Structure

In light of the difficult straits Carl Zeiss had recently found itself in, and the realization that competition was likely to become only fiercer in the 21st century, managers at the Stiftung and at Carl Zeiss and Schott Glas launched a modernization drive. After changes were made to the Stiftung's constitution, Carl Zeiss and Schott were converted into stock corporations in July 2004 under the names Carl Zeiss AG and Schott AG. Both remained wholly owned by the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung. This conversion, through which Carl Zeiss gained its first supervisory board and chairman, was carried out to provide the company with a corporate structure similar to that of its competitors along with enhanced financial flexibility and corporate transparency. The financial performance of Carl Zeiss became clearer as it began issuing its own annual reports; previously, the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung had issued annual reports covering both Carl Zeiss and Schott.

The planning for this historic change took several years, during which time Carl Zeiss itself converted parts of its operations into stock corporations. In 2001 the semiconductor technology group was transformed into a stock corporation called Carl Zeiss SMT AG. Though still wholly owned by Carl Zeiss AG, Carl Zeiss SMT was independently managed with its management board. As such, it was better positioned to enter into cooperative ventures with other firms and to obtain the high levels of funding needed in the chip industry. Also in 2001 Carl Zeiss acquired full control of the Cambridge, U.K.-based LEO Electron Microscopy, and LEO became part of Carl Zeiss SMT. Later, the LEO operations were made the core of Carl Zeiss SMT's newly formed Nanotechnology Systems Division, and instruments that had been marketed under the LEO name began sporting the Zeiss brand.

In 2002 Carl Zeiss introduced its new corporate vision, which featured the slogan "We make it visible." It also sold its majority interest in Z/I Imaging to venture partner Intergraph. The most significant development that year, however, was the company's merger of its ophthalmic instruments division with the public company Asclepion-Meditec AG, the leading European manufacturer of laser medical systems for ophthalmology, dermatology, and dentistry, to form Carl Zeiss Meditec AG, the stock of which continued trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Carl Zeiss AG thus gained its first publicly listed subsidiary. Initially, the company's stake was 80 percent, but this was later reduced to around 65 percent. Late in 2006, the Carl Zeiss Surgical business, which specialized in surgical microscopes and other visualization instruments for use in microsurgery, was merged into Carl Zeiss Meditec, thereby amalgamating all of the Carl Zeiss medical technology businesses under one banner.

In 2005 Carl Zeiss teamed up with the Swedish private-equity firm EQT Partners AB to acquire San Diego-based eyeglass lens maker Sola International Inc. in a deal valued at $1.1 billion (EUR 818 million). Sola was then merged with the company's Carl Zeiss Vision GmbH unit, which became the number two maker of eyeglass lenses in the world, trailing only the French firm Essilor International SA. In its first full year in its newly enlarged state, Carl Zeiss Vision generated revenues of EUR 845 million ($1.07 billion). Carl Zeiss AG and EQT Partners each held a 50 percent stake in Carl Zeiss Vision.

Revenues in the 2005-06 fiscal year rose 10 percent to EUR 2.43 billion ($3.09 billion) mainly via organic growth, although several smaller acquisitions were completed that year. Earnings continued to increase, and the firm's balance sheet was strengthened further. In what was the company's largest single investment in its history, a new Carl Zeiss SMT factory was opened in Oberkochen at a cost of more than EUR 450 million. With more than 47,000 square meters of total floor space, the factory employed around 1,400 workers, representing more than 12 percent of Carl Zeiss AG's entire workforce. Through large investments such as this one, as well as the pursuit of acquisitions and the development of innovative new products to expand existing businesses and enter new fields, Carl Zeiss was "making visible" its intention to remain a global leader in the optical and optoelectronic industry.

Principal Subsidiaries

MEDICAL SYSTEMS: Carl Zeiss Meditec AG (65.1%); Carl Zeiss Surgical GmbH; IOLTECH S.A. (France; 62.8%); Carl Zeiss Meditec Inc. (U.S.A.; 65.1%); Carl Zeiss Meditec France S.A.S. (62.8%); Carl Zeiss Meditec S.A. (Spain); Carl Zeiss Surgical Inc. (U.S.A.); Carl Zeiss Meditec Co. Ltd. (Japan; 82.2%). MICROSCOPY: Carl Zeiss MicroImaging GmbH; Carl Zeiss Imaging Solutions GmbH; P.A.L.M. Microlaser Technologies GmbH; Carl Zeiss MicroImaging (Suzhou) Co. Ltd. (China); Carl Zeiss MicroImaging S.L. (Spain); Carl Zeiss MicroImaging Inc. (U.S.A.); Carl Zeiss MicroImaging Co., Ltd. (Japan). SEMICONDUCTOR TECHNOLOGY: Carl Zeiss SMT AG; Carl Zeiss Laser Optics GmbH; Carl Zeiss SMS GmbH; Carl Zeiss NTS GmbH; NaWoTec GmbH; Carl Zeiss SMT Ltd. (U.K.); ALIS Corporation (U.S.A.); Carl Zeiss SMT S.A.S. (France); Carl Zeiss SMT Inc. (U.S.A.). INDUSTRIAL METROLOGY: Carl Zeiss Industrielle Messtechnik GmbH; Carl Zeiss IMT Corporation (U.S.A.); Carl Zeiss IMT (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. (China); Carl Zeiss Systems Engineering Co. Ltd. (Japan); Carl Zeiss 3D Metrology Services GmbH Aalen; Carl Zeiss Innovationszentrum für Messtechnik GmbH (51%); Carl Zeiss Industrielle Messtechnik Austria GmbH; Carl Zeiss IMT IBERIA S.L. (Spain). OPTO-ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS: Carl Zeiss Optronics GmbH; Carl Zeiss Optronics Wetzlar GmbH. LIFESTYLE PRODUCTS: Carl Zeiss Sports Optics GmbH; Carl Zeiss Sport Optikai Hungaria Kft. (Hungary); Carl Zeiss Vision Holding GmbH (50%); Carl Zeiss Optical Inc. (U.S.A.). OTHER AFFILIATED COMPANIES: Carl Zeiss Jena GmbH; Carl Zeiss Financial Services GmbH; Carl Zeiss Mobile Optics GmbH; Zeiss-BelOMO OOO (Belarus; 60%); Carl Zeiss Inc. (U.S.A.); Carl Zeiss de México S.A. de C.V.; Carl Zeiss N.V.-S.A. (Belgium); Carl Zeiss S.A.S. (France); Carl Zeiss Ltd. (U.K.); Carl Zeiss S.p.A. (Italy); Carl Zeiss Kroatien d.o.o. (Croatia); Carl Zeiss B.V. (Netherlands); Carl Zeiss GmbH (Austria); Carl Zeiss Sp. z o.o. (Poland); Carl Zeiss Instruments s.r.l. (Romania); Carl Zeiss OOO (Russia); Carl Zeiss AB (Sweden); Carl Zeiss AG (Switzerland); Carl Zeiss s.r.o. (Czech Republic); Carl Zeiss TOV (Ukraine); Carl Zeiss Technika Kft. (Hungary); Carl Zeiss Argentina S.A.; Carl Zeiss do Brasil Ltda. (Brazil); Carl Zeiss Canada Ltd.; Carl Zeiss Shanghai Co. Ltd. (China); Carl Zeiss Far East Co. Ltd. (Hong Kong); Carl Zeiss Co. Ltd. (Japan); Carl Zeiss Sdn. Bhd. (Malaysia); Carl Zeiss Pte. Ltd. (Singapore); Carl Zeiss India Pte. Ltd.; Carl Zeiss Co. Ltd. (South Korea); Carl Zeiss Pty. Ltd. (Australia); Carl Zeiss (N.Z.) Ltd. (New Zealand); Carl Zeiss (Pty.) Ltd. (South Africa).

Principal Operating Units

Industrial Metrology Group; Medical System Group; Microscopy Group; Opto-electronic Systems Group; Semiconductor Technology Group.

Principal Competitors

PPG Industries, Inc.; Corning Incorporated; Essilor International SA; Hoya Corporation; Nikon Corporation; Olympus Corporation.

Further Reading

Abbe, Ernst, Gesammelte Abhandlungen, Volumes I-IV, Jena, Germany: G. Fischer, 1904-1928.

Aeppel, Timothy, "German Firm Finds Reuniting Hard to Do," Wall Street Journal, December 14, 1990, p. B3C.

Auerbach, Felix, The Zeiss Works and the Carl Zeiss Foundation in Jena, London: W. & G. Foyle, [1927], 273 p.

Cohen, Martin C., "Carl Zeiss: A History of a Most Respected Name in Optics," http://www.company7.com/zeiss/history.html.

"Cold War," Economist, May 18, 1991, p. 81.

Colitt, Leslie, "East Germany's High-Flying Company Comes Down to Earth," Financial Times, December 14, 1990, p. 2.

Dempsey, Judy, "Zeiss 'Marriage' a Unification Story Ending in Tears," Financial Times, November 1, 1994, p. 2.

Düllberg, H., et al., Meilensteine der Zeiss Fernglasgeschichte und ihre Dokumentation, Stuttgart: Dongowski & Simon, [1993], 99 p.

Fisher, Andrew, "New Focus at Zeiss," Financial Times, December 13, 1991, p. 14.

------, "Two Parts of Zeiss Rejoin After 45 Years," Financial Times, November 12, 1991, p. 28.

Fuhrmans, Vanessa, "East Becomes West As Roles Reverse at Carl Zeiss AG," Wall Street Journal Europe, January 4, 2001, p. 1.

Goodhart, David, "Reuniting a Corporate Symbol of German Division: The Future of Carl Zeiss Jena," Financial Times, July 2, 1990, p. 10.

Hermann, Armin, Nur der Name war geblieben: Die abenteuerliche Geschichte der Firma Carl Zeiss, Stuttgart: DVA, 1989, 367 p.

------, Und trotzdem Brüder: Die deutsch-deutsche Geschichte der Firma Carl Zeiss, Munich: Piper, 2002, 569 p.

Kiaulehn, Walther, Der Zug der 41 Glasmacher, Mainz, Germany: Schott Glaswerke, 1959.

Kühnert, Herbert, Der Briefwechsel zwischen Otto Schott und Ernst Abbe über das optische Glas 1879-1881, Jena, Germany: G. Fischer, 1946.

Marsh, Peter, "Focus on a Profitable Partnership," Financial Times, February 28, 2002.

Mühlfriedel, Wolfgang, and Rolf Walter, eds., Carl Zeiss: Die Geschichte eines Unternehmens, 3 vols., Weimar, Germany: Böhlau, 1996-2004.

Nash, Nathaniel C., "Zeiss Bears Brunt of German Unity," New York Times, November 8, 1994, p. D1.

O'Boyle, Thomas F., "Zeiss Claimed by Communists, Capitalists: German Optical Twins Thrive on Both Sides of Iron Curtain," Wall Street Journal, January 13, 1989.

100 Jahre Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung, Heidenheim, Germany: Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung, 1988.

Rohr, Moritz von, Zur Geschichte der Zeissischen Werkstätte bis zum Tode Ernst Abbes, Jena, Germany: G. Fischer, 1936.

Roth, Terence, "Zeiss of East Germany Set to Re-enter Free Market via Merger with Namesake," Wall Street Journal, June 22, 1990.

Schares, Gail E., "Is There a Silicon Valley in the East German Rubble?" Business Week, December 21, 1992, p. 86D.

Schomerus, Friedrich, Geschichte des Jenaer Zeisswerkes, 1846-1946, Stuttgart: Piscator, 1952, 348 p.

------, Werden und Wesen der Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung, Stuttgart: G. Fischer, 1955, 253 p.

Schott, Erich, Von Jena nach Mainz, Mainz, Germany: [n.p.], 1984.

Volkmann, Harald, "Ernst Abbe and His Work," Applied Optics, November 1966.

Wassener, Bettina, "Carl Zeiss in $1.1bn Deal to Purchase Sola," Financial Times, December 7, 2004, p. 32.

Willam, Horst Alexander, Carl Zeiss, 1816-1888, Munich: Bruckmann, 1967, 142 p.

------, "Otto Schott und das Zeiss Werk," Klinische Monatsblätter für Augenheilkunde, 1966.

"Zeissmic Shift," Economist, November 11, 2000.

— Wolfgang Pfeiffer; Updated by David E. Salamie

Zeiss, Carl (1816-88), German manufacturer of microscopes and other precision optical and mechanical instruments, who founded his firm in Jena in 1846. Zeiss was amongst the first optical firms to establish a research and computational department and employed Ernst Abbe, who became a partner in 1875. Abbe designed a series of optics based on mathematical modelling and from 1881 collaborated with Otto Schott (1851-1935) in the scientific manufacture of optical glass for the Zeiss works. Another key figure was the lens designer Paul Rudolph. After Zeiss's death Abbe took over the firm, but in 1896 transferred ownership to a foundation, the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung. This later became the majority shareholder in the optical conglomerate Zeiss Ikon AG, founded in 1926.

The firm developed a number of classic photographic optics including the Planar (1896), Tessar (1902), and Sonnar (1932) lenses, and many cameras incorporated Zeiss optics, including models by Zeiss Ikon, Hasselblad, Kodak, and Franke & Heidecke (Rollei). From an early stage, Zeiss lenses were also made under licence. The company's T lens coating patented in 1936 helped reduce reflections on glass surfaces.

Zeiss remained relatively unscathed during the Second World War, but in 1945 all the factories except those in Stuttgart fell under Russian control, and US forces evacuated plant, machinery, and 126 staff from Jena to Stuttgart. The Zeiss optical works resumed production in Oberkochen from 1946 while the Zeiss and Schott works in Jena became state owned under the VEB prefix. In 1995 the two entities were finally reunited under the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung. Today Zeiss continues to manufacture professional photographic optics and a range of scientific and specialized optical equipment.

— Michael Pritchard

Bibliography

• Rohr, M. v., Zur Geschichte der Zeissischen Werkstätte (1936)

For the company with the same name, see Carl Zeiss AG.

For other uses, see Zeiss (disambiguation).

Carl Zeiss
Carl Zeiss
Born	September 11, 1816 (1816-09-11)
Died	December 3, 1888 (1888-12-04)
Ethnicity	German
Fields	Optics
Institutions	Carl Zeiss AG
Known for	Optical Lenses

Large microscope stand by Carl Zeiss (1879)

Carl Zeiss (September 11, 1816 – December 3, 1888) was an optician commonly known for the company he founded, Carl Zeiss Jena (now: Carl Zeiss AG). Zeiss made contributions to lens manufacturing that have aided the modern production of lenses. Raised in Weimar, Germany, he became a notable lens maker in the 1840s when he created high quality lenses that were "wide open", or in other words, had a very large aperture range that allowed for very bright images. He did this in the city of Jena at a self opened workshop, where he started his lens making career. At first his lenses were only used in the production of microscopes, but when cameras were invented, his company began manufacturing high quality lenses for cameras. He died in Jena on December 3, 1888.

Contents 1 Youth 2 Life 3 Publications 4 See also 5 External links

Youth

Zeiss began his life in pre-imperial Germany where he went to a grammar school, and undertook apprenticeship under Dr. Friedrich Körner, mechanic and supplier to the court. He later attended lectures in mathematics, experimental physics, anthropology, mineralogy and optics at Jena University. After seven years he opened a small workshop with hardly any tools. He made many lenses but had little recognition until 1847 when he hired his second and third apprentice.

Life

In 1847 Carl Zeiss started making microscopes full-time. His first innovation was making simpler microscopes that only used one lens and were therefore only intended for dissecting work. He sold around 23 of them in his first year of production. He soon decided that he needed a new challenge so he began making compound microscopes. He first created the Stand I which went to market in 1857.

In 1861 he was awarded a gold medal at the Thuringain Industrial Exhibition for his designs. They were considered to be among the best scientific instruments in Germany. By this point he had about 20 people working under him with his business still growing. In 1866 the Zeiss workshop sold their 1,000th microscope.

In 1872 he joined up with physicist Ernst Abbe. Their combined efforts lead to the discovery of the Abbe sine condition. Theoretically, the Abbe sine condition could greatly improve how well lenses could be made. The problem was, there was not any type of glass that was strong enough to fully test the theory. Abbe then met Otto Schott, a 30 year old glass chemist who had just received his doctorate. They collaborated and soon produced a new type of glass in 1886 that could fully use the Abbe sine condition. This new type of glass made possible a new class of microscope objective: the apochromatic (often abbreviated 'apo'). Zeiss used water immersion to form a compensating eyepiece which produced images with little or no color distortion.

His son had entered the business with him but retired soon after Carl Zeiss's death of natural causes on December 3, 1888. The business was incorporated as the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung in 1889. It gained an international reputation for the manufacture of optical instruments of all kinds, and remains in business to this day.

Publications

• Auerbach, Das Zeisswerk und die Carl Zeiss-Stiftung in Jena (third edition, Jena, 1907)

See also

• Calculation of glass properties - a significant contribution to the success of the companies Zeiss and Schott
• Optical Museum Jena

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Carl Zeiss

• Carl Zeiss Biography
• Zeiss Company History Site
• Zeiss/Abbe Fact Sheet
• First simple microscope made by Carl Zeiss in 1847/1848
• Early compound microscope made by Carl Zeiss

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