September 11, 1816: Birth of Carl Zeiss in Weimar, Germany. Zeiss opened an optical shop in Jena in 1846 which was to grow into the global Carl Zeiss optical corporation. Zeiss was an engineer who initially made simple microscopes. By 1856 he had a staff of 20 which grew to 200 in 1864 and he produced the 1000th microscope in 1866. Ernst Abbe became a partner with Carl Zeiss in 1875 and they were later joined by Carls son, Roderich. By 1888 Zeiss employed 250 people and had manufactured its 10,000th microscope. The collaboration between Zeiss, Abbe and Schott enabled large-scale production of high-powered microscopes in uniform quality. These instruments led to worldwide acclaim for the German optical and specialized glass industries.
Posted on: Thu, 11 Sep 2014 15:28:15 +0000