Download PDF - Carl Zeiss

1863 1870 1875
med. h. c. by the University of Halle
in 1883 and the title Dr. jur. h. c. by
the University of Jena in 1886. In
1900 Abbe became a corresponding
member of the Imperial Austrian
Academy of Science in Vienna. In
1901 he was appointed as an honorary
member of the Saxon Academy
of Science and of the Academy of
Science in Göttingen.
Abbe as an
entrepreneur
The process of integrating science
into industry already started in the
1860s. In addition to Carl Zeiss,
Siemens and Bayer were also pioneers
of this development. By hiring
scientific staff, Ernst Abbe was a
decisive driving force behind this
process at Zeiss: the integration of
R&D into the company was an important
step toward technology leadership.
The training of capable employees
and successors also played a
significant role in the entrepreneurial
and commercial areas. Competent
staff and constant quality control
Innovation 15, Carl Zeiss AG, 2005
allowed the implementation of high
quality standards. The corporate organization
was successfully focused
on growth by the clear allocation of
responsibilities for scientific, technical
and commercial staff.
From 1872, all ZEISS microscopes
were built in line with Abbe’s calculations.
Three years later, in 1875,
Abbe became a dormant partner in
the Optical Workshop of Carl Zeiss.
Abbe pledged not to increase his academic
activity beyond the current
measure and not to accept a professorship
in Jena or elsewhere. One
year later, he traveled to London to
attend the international exposition of
scientific instruments on behalf of
the Prussian Department of Education.
In 1878, due to his obligations
at Zeiss, he turned down the offer of
a post as professor in Berlin instigated
by Hermann von Helmholtz. He
also declined the offer of an ordinary
professorship in Jena.
He initially came into contact with
Dr. Otto Schott in 1879. Their collaboration
began one year later. In 1882
a private glass laboratory was set up
1880
for Otto Schott in Jena. The following
year saw the signing of the new partnership
agreement in which Abbe
became an active partner together
with Carl and Roderich Zeiss.
In 1884 the Glastechnische Laboratorium
Schott & Gen. (later to become
Jenaer Glaswerk Schott &
Gen.) was founded by Otto Schott,
Ernst Abbe, Carl Zeiss and Roderich
Zeiss.
In search of calcium fluoride for
optical applications, Abbe traveled to
Oltscherenalp in Switzerland for the
first time in 1886. After the death of
Carl Zeiss on December 3, 1888,
Abbe became the sole owner of the
Zeiss works in 1889. At the same
time, he discontinued his teaching
activities at the University of Jena.
From 1890 onwards, Abbe expanded
the product spectrum on an ongoing
basis: measuring instruments (1890),
camera lenses (1890), binoculars
(1894), astronomical instruments
(1897) and photogrammetric instruments
(1901). As a result, the number
of employees rose to over 2000
by 1905.
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