Company History

	Early Years 1846 Carl Zeiss founds a workshop for precision mechanics and optics in Jena 1847 Production of microscopes 1866 Start of collaboration between Ernst Abbe and Carl Zeiss 1872 Abbe’s theory of image formation in the microscope leads to fundamentally improved microscopes. This theory and the “sine condition” now bearing Abbe’s name form the basis of all modern, high performance optics 1884 Founding of the subsequent Jenaer Glaswerks Schott & Genossen (today: SCHOTT AG) by Otto Schott, Ernst Abbe, Carl Zeiss and Roderich Zeiss 1889 Founding of the Carl Zeiss Foundation by Ernst Abbe 1891 Ernst Abbe makes the Carl Zeiss Foundation the sole owner of the Zeiss Works 1900 Already of considerable economic importance, in the first half of the 20th century Carl Zeiss develops into a leading optics enterprise with activities all over the world		Company History Chronicle 1846 until 1900 Early Years 1945 bis 1971 Enforced Partition 1990 until 1996 Reunited 1998 until 2006 The 21st Century Short History How it started Optical Instrument Design The Carl Zeiss Foundation Expansion of the Portfolio Two Factories in Germany
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