The ZEISS Archives

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The ZEISS Archives contain original documents, files, photos, patents, registered designs, product literature, technical documentation and instruments from more than 150 years of company history.

The Archives were established in 1948. This is where the rest of the written documentation was collected, documentation that survived WWII, the American confiscations and the Soviet dismantling of German industry. Initially part of the Archives of VEB Carl Zeiss Jena, they then became the central archives of the VEB Carl Zeiss Jena conglomerate. After German reunification in 1989/90, they became part of Carl Zeiss Jena GmbH. Today, they are the ZEISS global archives.

Inquiries

related to instruments, people and events
Reproduction

of photographs on the history of Carl Zeiss
Copies

of advertising material, user manuals and other documents
Loan

of old instruments to museums and exhibitions
Independent research

for research and publication project in the Archives

Structure of the Archives

The ZEISS Archives were originally created for inventory. They were allocated the documents from before 1945, those of the VEB and some of those belonging to the combine. This unit (BACZ) therefore houses the documents up to the mid-1960s.

Only in 1998 was a decision made to merge the individual combine operations as individual holdings. As the documents of the BACZ are already used and cited in scientific literature under this signature, and there is no compelling reason to realign them, it was decided that the documents of the VEB would stay as is and perform major division only at catalogue level.

Against the embittered resistance of the workforce, Carl Zeiss Jena was nationalized on 1 July 1948. At the same time, VVB Optik was established with a view to coordinating the work of the VEBs in the field of optics. In the first few years, the foreman of VEB Carl Zeiss Jena was also top executive of this VVB. ZEISS was soon adapted to the needs of the state-controlled economy. This organizational structure did not see any major changes over the next few years. Only the Employment Directorate was set up in 1953.

Major changes were commonplace at Research and Development. This affected the intermediate levels more than it did the individual Research and Development departments.

However, the documents on this level can be allocated to the individual laboratories. For this reason, precise reconstruction of these organizational changes is not important for document indexing.
On 1 January 1965, VEB Carl Zeiss Jena was turned into a combine. At the same time, it was allocated to VEB Rathenower Optische Werke (ROW).

Organizational change was rather a slow process. While the former management team did become independent enterprises (telescope management (FBL) became the F enterprise), officially they remained production facilities. The core areas (Research, Development, Technology, Sales) remained dominant. It took a while for them to become fully integrated enterprises.

As these enterprises hardly left any trail behind them, and in order to make the structures less complex, the few documents (45 units, primarily from the G, F and P enterprises) were allocated to the former management and a new stock was only formed with the establishment of a new, fully integrated enterprise. The same process was applied to the documents from Research and Development (see also the Research Operations section). They were allocated to the former laboratories until the establishment of the Research Center in 1971.
Since the mid-1960s, substantial investments were approved for ZEISS. The aim of the investments was to increase the production of scientific precision instruments for the needs of the former East Germany and for exports.

One of the largest construction projects was the construction of building 6/70. It became the center of the South Production System (aka Factory II), which saw a large part of the South Factory consolidated into a technological system. The three parent companies G, F and P relocated to building 6/70 once the investments were complete and were consolidated in "Factory 2". Effective 7 December 1971, the project management team in charge of building 6/70 since 20 March 1971, also known as the "building team", was dissolved. As of 6 December 1971, the plant management of Factory 2, which was renamed G enterprise, assumed its duties. Also effective 6 December 1971, the F, G and P enterprises were allocated to plant management for Factory II. The responsibilities of the specialist management teams was consistent across all the enterprises of the combine. It was conducted horizontally, by responsibilities.

After conclusion of the reforms, the organizational structure of Factory 2, or the G enterprise, remained intact until the dissolution of the G enterprise. The Security department was renamed GX in 1977 and the inspection office assigned to it, which had previously been directly below the plant manager. An order management team (GA) was formed and assumed the construction management tasks of the GT department.
After the combine was formed in 1965, an initial attempt was made to expand the enterprises into full-fledged companies. For this reason, Research and Development were allocated to the individual enterprises. A central directorate for Research and Development was retained, which was primarily in charge of initial and basic research.

The internal organizational structure of the laboratories and development offices had hardly any impact on the new setup. The laboratories retained their names and roles, even if the structural acronyms changed. The laboratories remained in the research block constructed in 1959. This means that only minor adjustments were made to the informal processes as well. This continuity is evident in the documents: they were simply continued. Their allocation to the enterprises only lasted a short while. After a detailed analysis of these documents, it came to light that the document structure did not permit any sort of major change. What's more, this would result in increased complexity. For this reason, the documentation remained allocated to the origin classification of the VEB's old research institutes. This led to a skewed structure: while the VEB's other documents only go back as far as 1964, the documents for research and development up to 1970 have been allocated to the VEB. This did not change until the Research Center was established on 1 January 1971. Here, not only were Research and Development merged, but also Technology Development for the "Technology" Management team.

After a number of experiments at the organization, in 1976 a structure was created that essentially remained intact throughout the life of the Research Center. Meanwhile, the experiments concerned the laboratories and development offices than they did the levels between them and the Research Management team. The laboratories were thus split into two groups for a time: WL and WS.

In 1968, a dedicated Research Center was established for the automation of the AUTEVO technical preparation. The Research Control Center LZ AUTEVO was funded by the state budget and tasked with driving research in computer-assisted production preparation in international collaboration and with the other branches of industry. Funding resources were provided, which were utilized in mechanical engineering, systems construction, and the electronics and building industries. In 1979, the Research Center, which had by now been reduced to the AUTEVO coordination point, was closed. The topics and some of the staff initially moved to the X department, then to WEH, and later on to WEK.

Your research in the ZEISS Archives

Before visiting the archive, you can research pictures, printed materials and files (so far only Kombinat Carl Zeiss Jena) via our online search tool. You will also find a database with descriptions of the devices manufactured by ZEISS.

ZEISS Archives

In the last few years, over 160,000 photographs have been catalogued. More than 120,000 of these have already been scanned. The oldest pictures date back to the 1860s. The images show people, buildings, instruments, and events. Due to the enormous amount of data and for data privacy reasons, it is not possible to upload the pictures to the internet.

We will be happy to provide you with printable versions of our photos to be used for editorial or scientific purposes.
Our terms of use are as follows:

“ZEISS Archive” must be named as the source.
The images may only be used for the intended purpose. After use, the image files and any copies must be destroyed.
Any use for a different purpose must be approved in advance. Any unauthorized transfer to third parties is prohibited.
A specimen copy of the pictures will be sent to the ZEISS Archives before they are published in any way.

Using preview images, you can select which pictures you would like to order from history@zeiss.com. Please tell us what you intend to use the images for and provide us with the signature above each image.
Online search for photographs
ZEISS Archives

Over 100,000 different product literature publications are catalogued in the product literature database. Almost without exception, they consist of product literature from Carl Zeiss and its subsidiaries. Among them are catalogs, brochures, and instruction manuals, as well as price lists and circulars for retailers. You can also find reprints of scientific articles discussing Carl Zeiss instruments.

The collection of product literature up until 1945 is almost complete; only some of the brochures for military instruments are missing.

For the period after 1945, the publications of VEB Carl Zeiss Jena and that of the combine have been collected. The gaps include: military instruments as well as instruments which were ultimately not produced in Jena, especially glasses (Rathenow), binoculars (Eisfeld) and camera lenses (Saalfeld).

ZEISS in Oberkochen has thus far collected the product literature for the Microscopy business group and the former Geodetic Instrument business group, which has since been taken over by the company Trimble Jena GmbH.

For cost reasons, these documents can be searched but not downloaded. However, you can order copies. We charge €0.50 per page (plus a €5 fee) with a minimum order value of €15.
Researching product literature online
ZEISS Archives

In conjunction with Prof. Walter, who holds the Chair for Economic History at the Friedrich Schiller University of Jena, and with sponsorship from the VW Foundation, three important collections from the VEB Carl Zeiss Jena combine were made accessible between 1998 and 2002.

The goal was to test new indexing forms for the internet.

In the next few years, the plan is to make other inventories from the combine as well as older inventories available one by one for research and release them for use on the internet.

Online research can be done to prepare for, but not replace, a visit to the archives, since the file contents themselves cannot be uploaded to the internet.

To order files from the archives, you need the digital signature of each file. For data privacy reasons, access to the index of persons is limited.

We are currently working on a way to help locate the older Carl Zeiss Jena files from before 1945.
Online document research

Image from the virtual museum — ZEISS Archives

In our virtual museum, you can find every instrument manufactured by ZEISS up to 1945. The devices have the original texts from the old brochures.

Exact manufacturing dates are often difficult to ascertain, which is why we have decided not to offer specific information.

The following ranges can be researched online (1945-1990):

Online research in the virtual museum

	Jena	Oberkochen
Astronomical devices	•	•
Glasses	•	•
Documentation technique	•
Binoculars	•	•
Magnetic tape storage	•
Medical technology	•	•
Analysis metrology	•	•
Microelectronics	•
Microscopy	•	•
Numerics	•
Photo	•	•
Projection and movie theater	•
High vacuum technology	•
Surveying instruments	•	•

ZEISS Archives

A collection of roughly 1,500 Carl Zeiss instruments is on display in Jena. The items are lent out for company presentations to museums and to exhibition organizers.

This collection builds on the collection from the former plant for optical precision instruments (G-Plant) at Carl Zeiss (German Democratic Republic). It has grown in the past few years.

The aim is to collect these instruments, which document the product history and scientific development of ZEISS in Jena.

This is what distinguishes our collection from that of the optical museum in Jena and Oberkochen:
The Optical Museum in Jena is based on a collection from the Carl Zeiss Research departments in Jena. Today the two organizations are no longer directly linked. The Optical Museum documents the history of optics. The focus is largely, but not exclusively, on Carl Zeiss. The following ranges (1945-1990) can be researched online:

German Optical Museum
The ZEISS Museum of Optics in Oberkochen collects instruments from the ZEISS Group up through German reunification, as well as the latest products.

Optical Museum
ZEISS Archives
Evaluation of the places of residence of employees until 1890

With the help of our history maps, you can search online for employees or sold microscopes yourself:
Short biographies are available for all employees who were hired until 1889. You can search by name, place of origin or profession. The places of birth are shown on a map. The mechanics from this early period come from all over Germany and some of them only stay for a short time. The opticians, on the other hand, who were initially trained by Carl Zeiss himself, came from the region and usually stayed until the end of their professional lives.

Research for employees until 1890
Another map illustrates where the microscopes were sent until 1889. ZEISS initially delivered more to German and Russian university towns, but later he also achieved great growth in the Western European science and trade metropolises.

Research for microscopes until 1890
ZEISS Archives

Chronicle of optics

In the early 1950s, archivist Fritz Ortlepp put together a chronicle of optics. It consists of some 30,000 index cards and ranges from the pre-Socratic philosophers to about 1945.

This card catalogue is currently being processed so that it can be made available as an online database. The next step planned is to complete the data from World War II on.
Virtual museum

The biographies of the 100 most important Carl Zeiss employees up to 1945, including photos, are currently being compiled. They are being added to the Virtual Museum along with a photo. There will be links to the instruments that each person invented.

The patent database for the period before 1945 will also be included in the museum. The patents are to be linked to the inventors and products.

The products of VEB Carl Zeiss Jena and the Carl Zeiss Group following 1945 are to be catalogued. However, due to the diversity of companies and business units, this will take some time to complete.

Parts of the Virtual Museum will be translated into English. Due to the volume of data involved, however, this will also take some time.

If you are interested in taking part in one of the projects on a voluntary basis, please send an email to:

Indices — ZEISS Archives, Photo: Anna Schroll

Research tips

Like on the internet, "full-text searches" are possible. However, it often turns up very imprecise results. For this reason, there are three further ways of searching that are typical for archives:

Research tips

Indices

Keyword, device and place indexes enable precise searches for particular information. In general, the individual keyword is followed by a derivative and a comma in order to keep the number of hits at a reasonable level

Therefore, it is advisable to also consider related terms in the index lists (keywords, devices, etc.).

Example:
The full-text search for "Annual Report" returns more than 270 hits.
In the keywords index you will find:
Annual Report, 1933/34
Annual Report, 1935
[...]

For reasons of data protection, the personal index cannot be activated for the internet.

Document plan

Since the mid-1970s, the document plan of the Ministry for Electronics and Electrical Engineering has been used.

This file plan has its disadvantages. The content was arranged by topic and formal aspects (e.g. protocols). The origin is not important.

For instance, as per the document plan, "Workloads of the Different Management Levels" had to be filed under number 0.2.3. The content was formally catalogued on the level below that (Specifications, Designs, Protocols, Templates). There was no way to distinguish between the "different management levels" such as combine and enterprise management. They can therefore not be distinguished here.

That's why this document plan is not suitable for all archive searches. However, as the documents were pre-classified in this way, this system remained in use.

Classification

A completely new classification was created based on origin. An attempt was made to use the document origins as a guide to the greatest possible extent. In other words, the documents are allocated to the organizational units in which they were created and/or the department that was responsible for a particular question.

Consistent division was not always meaningful, which is why, for example, the plant management documents, which could in theory be responsible for all questions and problems, are allocated to the respective directorates and departments.

There are 4 hierarchy levels: at the top is the inventory, and below it are the main departments and directorates, followed by the other departments. Large document volumes are allocated by tasks and responsibilities on the lowest level.

Digital scans on Dana

Web research into production and supply lists

The written records of Carl Zeiss Jena contain production and dispatch lists for microscopes, optical measuring instruments and astronomic devices. In collaboration with the Thuringian State and University Library in Jena, digital scans of these books were published online to enable independent research. This means instrument specifications, production details and information about the recipient can be researched online.

Betram Kurze ”Industriearchitektur eines Weltunternehmens Carl Zeiss 1880–1945” (Thuringian Office for the Preservation of Historical Monuments and Archeology. New edition 24) Erfurt, 2006.

Franz-Ferdinand Falkenhausen, Ute Leonhardt, Otto Haueis and Wolfgang Wimmer ”Carl Zeiss in Jena 1846 bis 1946.” Photo book, Jena, 2004.

Katharina Schreiner (publisher): ”Schaltkreise. Die Anfänge der Mikroelektronik im VEB Carl Zeiss Jena und ihre Folgen.”
Jena 2004.

Katharina Schreiner (publisher): ”Politkrimi oder Zukunftsmodell? Das ”Neue Ökonomische System” im VEB Carl Zeiss Jena.”
Jena 2002.
Stephan Paetrow "... was zusammen gehört. 20 Jahre Wiedervereinigung von Carl Zeiss."
Hanseatischer Merkur, Hamburg 2011.

City Museum of Jena / Geschichtswerkstatt Jena / State Commissioners of the Free State of Thuringia for the Records of the State Security Service of the former German Democratic Republic (publisher): Die Friedliche Revolution in Jena. Gesichter des Herbstes 1989. Eine Ausstellungsdokumentation. Kranichfeld 2010. Contains the DVD: Contemporary Witness Documentation "Gesichter der Friedlichen Revolution - Jena 1989–2009 (Befragung von Zeitzeugen).

Hans-Werner Kreidner: Wendezeiten – Jena. Erfurt 2009. 128 pages, 228 photographs.

Jürgen Hohmuth. Zeitbilder. Jena 1988/1989. Berlin 2009.

Katharina Schreiner, Klaus-Dieter Gattnar, Horst Skoludek: Carl Zeiss Ost und West. Geschichte einer Wiedervereinigung. Jena 2006. 356 pages.

Armin Hermann ”Und trotzdem Brüder. Die deutsch-deutsche Geschichte der Firma Zeiss.” Piper, München 2002. 568 pages.

Beate Naffin: Carl Zeiss “Zeiss in Not.” Konzern und Krise – Kampf und Kritik”. Published by IG Metall Aalen. Vol. 4 of the series “Menschen kämpfen für Arbeitsplätze.“ Aalen 2002. 144 pages.

Armin Hermann: Jena und die Jenoptik. Vom Kombinat zum Global Player. Düsseldorf and Munich 1998. 285 pages.
Klaus Mütze ”Die Macht der Optik : Industriegeschichte Jenas 1846–1996.”
Vol. 1: Vom Atelier für Mechanik zum Rüstungskonzern 1846-1946” Jena 2004.
Vol. 2: 1946-1996: Vom Rüstungskonzern zum Industriekombinat. Vermächtnis, Erkenntnis, Experiment und Fortschritt. Jena 2009.

Armin Hermann ”Carl Zeiss – Die abenteuerliche Geschichte einer deutschen Firma.”
Series Piper No. 1265, Piper publishers, Munich 1992.

Armin Hermann ”Nur der Name war geblieben – Die abenteuerliche Geschichte der Firma Carl Zeiss”
Deutsche Verlagsanstalt, Stuttgart 1989.

Wolfgang Held ”Die gläserne Fackel.”
Leipzig 1989.

Heinz Sponsel ”Made in Germany. Die dramatische Geschichte des Hauses Zeiss.”
Gütersloh 1957.

Fritz Scheffel ”Gläserne Wunder. Drei Männer schaffen ein Werk. Zeiss Abbe Schott.”
Munich 1938.
Carl Zeiss
Stephan Paetrow and Wolfgang Wimmer "Carl Zeiss 1816–1881. Eine Biografie."
Böhlau, Cologne 2016.

Rüdiger Stolz und Joachim Wittig (publisher) ”Carl Zeiss und Ernst Abbe. Leben, Wirken und Bedeutung.”
Jena 1993.

Horst Alexander Willam ”Carl Zeiss 1816-1888.”
Verlag F. Bruckmann K.G., München 1967.

Paul G. Esche ”Carl Zeiss. Life and Work.”
Jena 1966.

Erich Zeiss und Friedrich Zeiss ”Hof- und Universitätsmechanikus Dr. h.c. Carl Zeiss.”
Sippenverband der Familien Zeiß 1966.

Harald Volkmann ”Carl Zeiss und Ernst Abbe, ihr Leben und ihr Werk.”
Deutsches Museum – Abhandlungen und Berichte,
Verlag von R. Oldenbourg, Munich, VDI-Verlag GmbH, Düsseldorf, 1966, Heft 2


Ernst Abbe: Werke
Volker Wahl and Joachim Wittig (publsiher): Ernst Abbe. Briefe an seine Jugend- und Studienfreunde Carl Martin und Harald Schütz, 1858-1865.
Berlin 1986.

H. Kühnert (publisher): ”Briefe und Dokumente zur Geschichte des VEB Optik Jenaer Glaswerk Schott & Genossen
I. Teil: Die wissenschaftliche Grundlegung (Glastechnisches Laboratorium und Versuchshütte), 1882-1884.”
Jena 1953
II. Teil - Der Übergang zur industriellen Produktion (Von der Versuchsglashütte zum 1. Produktionsverzeichnis), 1884-1886.”
Jena 1957.

H. Kühnert (publisher): ”Der Briefwechsel zwischen Otto Schott und Ernst Abbe über das optische Glas 1879–1881.”
Jena 1946

Ernst Abbe ”Gesammelte Abhandlungen.”
Vol. 1: ”Abhandlungen über die Theorie des Mikroskops.”
Verlag G. Fischer, Jena 1904.
Vol. 2: ”Wissenschaftliche Abhandlungen aus verschiedenen Gebieten. Patentschriften. Gedächtnisreden.”
Verlag G. Fischer, Jena 1906.
Vol. 3: ”Vorträge, Reden und Schriften sozialpolitischen und verwandten Inhalts”
Verlag G. Fischer, Jena 1906.
Vol. 4: ”Arbeiten zum Glaswerk zwischen 1882 und 1885.”
Verlag G. Fischer, Jena 1928.


Ernst Abbe: Biografien
Bernd Dörband, Henriette Müller: Ernst Abbe, das unbekannte Genie. Spurensuche in Jena, Eisenach, Göttingen und Frankfurt am Main.
Jena 2005.

Kerstin Gerth, Wolfgang Wimmer ”Ernst Abbe. Wissenschaftler, Unternehmer, Sozialreformer.”
Jena 2005 (English and German).

Rüdiger Stolz und Joachim Wittig (publisher) ”Carl Zeiss und Ernst Abbe. Leben, Wirken und Bedeutung.”
Jena 1993.

Harald Volkmann ”Carl Zeiss und Ernst Abbe, ihr Leben und ihr Werk.”
Deutsches Museum – Abhandlungen und Berichte,
Verlag von R. Oldenbourg, Munich, VDI-Verlag GmbH, Düsseldorf, 1966, Heft 2.

N. Günther ”Ernst Abbe, Schöpfer der Zeiss Stiftung.” Wissenschaftliche Verlagsgesellschaft,
Stuttgart 1951.

Moritz von Rohr ”Ernst Abbe.”
Verlag G. Fischer, Jena 1940.

Felix Auerbach ”Ernst Abbe – Sein Leben, sein Wirken, seine Persönlichkeit.”
Akadem. Verlagsgesellschaft Leipzig 1918.
Werner Plumpe (publisher) "Eine Vision. Zwei Unternehmen. 125 Jahre Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung."
C. H. Beck, Munich 2014.

Christoph Matthes "Finanzier, Förderer, Vertragspartner. Die Universität Jena und die optische Industrie (1886-1971)"
Böhlau, Cologne, Weimar, Vienna 2014.

Sebastian Demel "Auf dem Weg zur Verantwortungsgesellschaft. Ernst Abbe und die Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung im deutschen Kaiserreich."
Wallstein, Göttingen 2014.

Wolfgang Wimmer "Das Verhältnis von Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung und Zeisswerk zur Universität bis 1933. In: Matthias Steinbach/Stefan Gerber (publisher), „Klassische Universität“ und „akademische Provinz“. Studien zur Universität Jena von der Mitte des 19. bis in die dreißiger Jahre des 20. Jahrhunderts, Jena/Quedlinburg 2005, p. 59-76.

K. Theiss ”Die Stiftung als Organisationsform der Unternehmung – unter Berücksichtigung praktischer Beispiele.”
Diplomarbeit, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg i. Br. 1964.

Friedrich Schomerus ”Werden und Wesen der Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung.”
G. Fischer Verlag, Stuttgart, 2nd edition 1955.

W. David ”Die Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung, ihre Vergangenheit und ihre gegenwärtige rechtliche Lage.”
Heidenheim 1954.
Optics, general
Emil-Heinz Schmitz ”Handbuch zur Geschichte der Optik.”
part 1 - 5 and supplementary volumes I - III. Wayenborgh, Bonn 1981 to 1995.

S. Czapski and O. Eppenstein ”Grundzüge der Theorie der optischen Instrumente nach Abbe.”
3rd edition, Verlag J. A. Barth, Leipzig 1924.

Microscopy
Dieter Gerlach ”Geschichte der Mikroskopie.”
Frankfurt 2009.

Lawrence J. Gubas "A Survey of Zeiss Microscopes 1846-1945."
Las Vegas (USA) 2009.

Güter Döderlein ”Zur Geschichte des Mikroskops.”
Oberkochen 1979.

Hugo Freund und Alexander Berg ”Geschichte der Mikroskopie”
(vol. 1: ”Biologie”) Frankfurt/Main 1963.

Camera lenses
Hartmut Thiele ”Carl Zeiss Jena – Entwicklung und Beschreibung der Photoobjektive und ihre Erfinder. Optikkonstrukteure und Rechner, Objektivversuche von 1912 bis 1990, Beschreibung aller Typen, Einsatz der Objektive." private print, 2nd edition, Munich 2007.

Hartmut Thiele ”Legenden und Geschichten der Photoindustrie. Ein Blick hinter die Kulissen von Ernst Leitz, Carl Zeiss und der Deutschen Photoindustrie". private print, Munich 2006.

Hartmut Thiele ”Fabrikationsbuch Photooptik I. Carl Zeiss Jena. Photoobjektive und Fertigungsnummern, Fertigungszeiten, Mengen und Lieferungen an die Kameraindustrie von 1890 bis 1928.” private print, 4th extended edition, Munich 2012.

Hartmut Thiele ”Fabrikationsbuch Photooptik II. Carl Zeiss Jena. Alle Photoobjektive, Prototypen, Spezialobjektive, Fertigungsnummern, Fertigungszeiten, Mengen und Lieferungen an die Kameraindustrie von 1927 bis 1991.”
private print, 3rd edition, Munich 2005.

Hartmut Thiele ”Fabrikationsbuch Photooptik III. Carl Zeiss Oberkochen. Photoobjektive und Fertigungsnummern, Fertigungszeiten, Mengen und Lieferungen an die Kameraindustrie von 1948 bis 1996.” private print, 3rd edition, Munich 2009.

Telescopes, binoculars
Hans T. Seeger "Zeiss-Feldstecher. Handferngläser von 1919 - 1946, Modelle - Merkmale - Mythos.
"Hamburg, 2015.

Hans T. Seeger "Zeiss-Feldstecher. Handferngläser von 1894 - 1919, Modelle - Merkmale - Mythos."
Hamburg, 2010.

Lawrence J. Gubas ”An Introduction to the binoculars of Carl Zeiss Jena from 1893 - 1945”.
Lightning Press, NJ, 2004.

Hans T. Seeger ”Militärische Ferngläser und Fernrohre in Heer, Luftwaffe und Marine.”
Hamburg 1996, 2nd extended edition 2002.

Rolf Riekher ”Fernrohre und ihre Meister.”
Berlin 2rd edition, 1990.

Hans T. Seeger ”Feldstecher. Ferngläser im Wandel der Zeit.”
Hamburg 1987.

Günter Döderlein ”Zur Geschichte des Fernrohrs.”
Oberkochen 1981.

Albert König und Horst Köhler ”Die Fernrohre und Entfernungsmesser.”
Berlin 3rd edition, 1959.

H.C. King ”The History of the Telescope.”
London 1955.

Brille
Stephan Paetrow "Besser sehen. Die Carl Zeiss Augenoptik 1912-2012."
Hanseatischer Merkur, Hamburg 2012.

Günter Döderlein ”Zur Geschichte der Brille.”
Oberkochen 1978.

Gerhard Kühn und Wolfgang Roos ”Sieben Jahrhunderte Brille.”
(Deutsches Museum: ”Abhandlungen und Berichte” 36, Heft 3, Munich 1968.

Photogrammetry
Dierk Hobbie: Die Entwicklung photogrammetrischer Verfahren und Instrumente bei Carl Zeiss in Oberkochen.
Deutsche Geodätische Kommission, Reihe E, 2010.

Rudolf Schumann: Die Entwicklung der photogrammetrischen Geräte in Jena von der Jahrhundertwende bis zum Jahr 1945. In: Klaus Szangolies (publisher): Kompendium Photogrammetrie XVIII. Leipzig 1986.

Planetariums
Karsten Gaulke and Reimund Torge ”Sterne aus Jena.”
(Deutsches Museum: ”Meisterwerke aus dem Deutschen Museum.” Bonn 1997, p. 28-31).

Ludwig Meier ”Der Himmel auf Erden. Die Welt der Planetarien.”
Leipzig, Heidelberg 1992.

Charles F. Hagar ”Planetarium. Window to the Universe.”
Oberkochen 1980.

Lithography Optics
Stephan Paetrow: "Enabling the digital Age. The History of ZEISS Lithography Optics."
Hanser, München 2022.
All articles of the Jenaer Jahrbuch from 1999 onwards can be found on the publisher's pages:

Technik-Geschichte in Jena e.V.

Online research

Photographs

Online search for photographs

Product literature

Researching product literature online

Files

Online document research

Microscope sales until 1890

Employees until 1890

Virtual museum

Contact

ZEISS Archives
Carl-Zeiss-Promenade 10
07745 Jena

The Archives are open Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Other visiting times can be arranged.

Before your initial visit, please make an appointment:
Tel.: +49 3641 64 2759

The Archives are located at the Jena site.

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The ZEISS Archives

Our services

Inquiries

Reproduction

Copies

Loan

Independent research

Structure of the Archives

Your research in the ZEISS Archives

Chronicle of optics

Virtual museum

Research tips

Research tips

Indices

Document plan

Classification

Web research into production and supply lists

Microscopes

Optical measuring instruments

Astronomical devices

List of literature

A selection of publications about ZEISS

Online research

Online search for photographs

Researching product literature online

Online document research

Microscope sales until 1890

Employees until 1890

Contact

Your questions about the company history or older products

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