Author Description

Carl Zeiss founded a precision mechanical workshop in Jena in 1846. From the cooperation with Ernst Abbe since 1866, completely new technologies and products have emerged that gave the company a unique market position in the field of optical device construction. Like no other, it shaped the face of the university city on the Saale and the life of entire generations. The first 100 years until 1946 were marked by significant innovations and rapid growth to become the largest employer in its industry. This period ended with the destruction of large parts of the work during World War II, dismantling and beginning reconstruction. This story is told in the picture book with 220 previously hardly published images. At the heart of the photo selection are the people, the Zeissians, their jobs, the structural development of their work, the products they made and which brought them world fame. Their coexistence and the social, sporting and cultural institutions of the company Carl Zeiss and the Carl Zeiss Foundation are also shown.