×

ZEISS

Carl Friedrich Zeiss (1816-1888)

Carl Friedrich Zeiss was born on 11 September 1816 in Weimar, a city in the German federal state Thuringia. He was the fifth child in a family of twelve children, and was interested from childhood in physics and technology. In 1849, he married Bertha Schatter, who died a year later during the birth of their son, Roderich. In 1853, he remarried Ottilie, with whom he had two daughters and a son. Carl Zeiss died on 3 December 1888 and was buried in Jena.

Zeiss was apprenticed to Friedrich Kömer in Jena. Afterwards, in 1846, at the age of 30, he established a workshop and shop in Jena (Neugasse number 7) for precision engineering and optics. As well as simple microscopes, he also sold other scientific instruments, including as balances. Thanks to the excellent quality of his microscopes and his connections, Jena University became his first regular customer.

Medical doctors and scientists were, however, more interested in compound microscopes than simple ones, because of the higher magnification. As he was unsatisfied with the time-consuming production process, Zeiss brought in Ernst Abbe (1840-1905) from Jena University. Abbe advised separating the production of the objectives from that of the mechanical parts. Abbe’s theories about imaging in microscopy and the “sine condition” and his innovative approach to tools for  microscopy resulted in fundamental improvements in Carl Zeiss microscopes and lenses.

Ernst Abbe became co-owner, and retained the company name after Zeiss’ death in memory of his friend. which meant the foundation of the development of the present Zeiss empire. The company prospered until the partition of Germany after World War 2 when the company split also split into Carl Zeiss Jena and Zeiss Opton. It was not until 1990 that the two companies reached an agreement to merge into a single foundation again. Since then, Carl Zeiss has become one of the largest and most respected optical firms in the world.

ZEISS microscopes

Simple achromatic dissecting microscope

ZEISS

1870

Compound achromatic microscope, stand IIIb

ZEISS

ca. 1880

Compound achromatic microscope, stand VII

ZEISS

1885-1886

Compound achromatic microscope, stand IX

ZEISS

ca. 1890

Compound achromatic microscope, stand V1

ZEISS

1890

Compound achromatic microscope, stand IVa

ZEISS

ca. 1894

Compound achromatic microscope, stand VIa

ZEISS

1896

Compound achromatic microscope, stand IVa

ZEISS

ca. 1902

Compound achromatic microscope, stand IVb

ZEISS

ca. 1904

Compound achromatic microscope, stand IVa

ZEISS

1904

Compound achromatic microscope, stand III C

ZEISS

1910-1911

Compound achromatic microscope, stand VII

ZEISS

ca. 1910

Compound achromatic microscope, stand I B

ZEISS

1913-1914

Compound achromatic microscope, stand III D

ZEISS

1921

Compound achromatic microscope, probably stand B

ZEISS

ca. 1923

Compound achromatic microscope, type ESC

ZEISS

1925-1932

Compound achromatic microscope, stand ESG

ZEISS

ca. 1932

Compound achromatic microscope, L-stand

ZEISS

ca. 1932

Compound achromatic microscope, ‘Standard Junior KFT’

ZEISS

1955-1960

Compound achromatic microscope, ‘Standard GFL’

ZEISS

1955-1960

Compound achromatic microscope, stand ‘Standart 14’

ZEISS

1964-1970

Compound achromatic microscope, stand PM 1

ZEISS

ca. 1965

Compound achromatic microscope, binocular tube, type Ergaval

ZEISS

ca. 1970

Compound achromatic microscope

ZEISS

1970-1980

Compound achromatic fluorescence microscope, stand Axioskop

ZEISS

ca. 1990

ZEISS accessories microscopy

Drawing prism

ZEISS

1900-1930

Prism rotator after Greenough

ZEISS

1900-1920

Additional microscope parts

ZEISS

ca. 1900

Drawing prism after Abbe

ZEISS

ca. 1900

Drawing prism after Abbe

ZEISS

ca. 1910

Polarizer and analyser eye piece after Abbe for research with polarized light

ZEISS

ca. 1910

Achromatic objective lens, type F

ZEISS

1910-1920

Microscope lamp

ZEISS

1920-1935

Cardioid condenser after Siedentopf

ZEISS

ca. 1935

Folding condenser

ZEISS

1950-1970

Microscope camera, type Werra

ZEISS

1960-1965

Transformer for a microscope lamp

ZEISS

1960-1980

Plan apochromat objectives

ZEISS

1975-1990

ZEISS other optical equipment

Butter refractometer after Wolney

ZEISS

ca. 1891

Spectroscope

ZEISS

1930-1940

Monochromator with adjustable filter

ZEISS

1950-1965