The company blossomed when the leading optical scientist, Ernst Abbe, joined in 1866. Abbe was engaged by Carl Zeiss to improve the manufacturing process of optical instruments.
In 1884, Carl Zeiss, Abbe, Roderich Zeiss together with Otto Schott then founded a glass manufacturing company which is a glass specialists name Glastechnische Laboratorium Schott and Genoissen AG in Jena. Later the name changed to Jenaer Glaswerk Schott and Genoissen.
The snapshots that Apollo 11 astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin took on the moon were made with a Carl Zeiss Biogon lens, fitted onto a Hasselblad 500EL camera.
After the death of Carl Zeiss, Abbe founded on May 19, 1889, the so-called Carl Zeiss Foundation which encourages the promotion of science.
Until the 2nd Word War, the firm grew to a major producer of optical precision instruments. After the war the Zeiss ended up in the Soviet occupied zone and were nationalized. Over most of the post-war era Carl Zeiss was administered by the regional state of Baden Wurttemberg.
The company offers products and services for biomedical research and medical technology, systems solutions for the semiconductor, automotive and mechanical engineering industries and consumer goods such as camera lenses, binoculars and eyeglass.
By 2007, Carl Zeiss had grown to a company with annual sales of €2.7 billion, with production sites in Germany, France, Hungary, United States China and Belarus and sales offices in 30 countries.
Carl Zeiss
