{"id":5364,"date":"2021-09-02T05:06:23","date_gmt":"2021-09-02T05:06:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.zeiss.com\/sports-optics\/hunting\/en\/?p=5364"},"modified":"2021-09-21T06:03:08","modified_gmt":"2021-09-21T06:03:08","slug":"from-small-workshop-to-global-player","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.zeiss.com\/sports-optics\/hunting\/en\/from-small-workshop-to-global-player\/","title":{"rendered":"From Small Workshop to Global Player (Part 1)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

ZEISS Company History<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

On the occasion of the company\u2019s 175th anniversary<\/strong>, ZEISS is offering an exciting look back and forward at the company and its history in a series of historical articles on the company\u2019s history and its influence on the development of innovations and today\u2019s technologies in the fields of hunting and nature observation.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Founded in 1846 by university mechanic Carl Zeiss as a small lens workshop in Jena, ZEISS is now one of the world\u2019s leading optical and precision engineering companies. The company\u2019s history is a reflection of German history with all its highs and lows \u2013 and is a prime example and pioneer of successful entrepreneurship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With an initial investment of 100 borrowed thalers, on November 17, 1846, Carl Zeiss opened a workshop and small store for precision mechanics and lenses at Neugasse 7 in Jena, Germany. Initially, the mechanic single-handedly designed, repaired, and optimized scientific equipment and instruments. He also sold glasses, chemical weighing scales, drawing instruments, and telescopes. Just one year later, he began manufacturing simple microscopes. Twenty years later, Carl Zeiss finally found the man who would revolutionize image formation in the microscope by placing it on a mathematical and scientific foundation \u2013 physicist Ernst Abbe. As a forward-looking entrepreneur, Zeiss recognized Abbe\u2019s innovative potential and made him a silent partner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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With an initial investment of 100 borrowed thalers, Carl Zeiss opened his workshop at Neugasse 7 in Jena, Germany on November 17, 1846. \u00a9ZEISS Archives<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The microscopes based on Abbe\u2019s designs and theory sold extremely well. By the end of the 1880s, Zeiss\u2019 company had outgrown its humble beginnings as a one-man workshop once and for all. At that time, the ZEISS workforce numbered 360 workers and company officials. In 1884, by which time Zeiss was approaching 70, Abbe founded the \u201cGlastechnische Laboratorium Schott & Genossen\u201d with the glass chemist Otto Schott, better known today as SCHOTT AG. The collaboration between Zeiss, Abbe, and Schott made it possible to mass-produce high-performance microscopes of consistent quality. In 1886, ZEISS produced its 10,000th<\/sup> microscope. Shortly thereafter (in 1888), Carl Zeiss passed away \u2013 but the modern era of groundbreaking discoveries in microscopy had long since dawned, and Jena was its intellectual and technological center. The university town located in the Saale Valley in the German state of Thuringia is considered the birthplace of the optical industry. In 1889, Abbe established the Carl Zeiss Foundation to safeguard the work he had done together with his partner for the long term. Today, it is not only one of the largest German foundations for the promotion of science, but also one of the oldest and best-known corporate foundations in Germany.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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