The origins of the Zeiss concern date from 1846, when Carl Zeiss opened an instrument maker's shop in Jena. He soon specialized in the manufacture of microscopes. Physicist Ernst Abbe designed instruments with better resolution power and better color rendition than was hitherto possible – which resulted in a steady demand for Zeiss instruments for medical research. In 1884 the chemist Otto Schott, together with Ernst Abbe, Carl Zeiss, and the latter's son Roderich, established a glass research laboratory, which developed into the Jenaer Glaswerk Schott und Genossen. By 1886, forty-four different types of optical glass were in production. In cooperation with Ernst Abbe, Otto Schott carried out systematic research work into the dependence of optical and other glass on chemical composition. Schott's inventions included thermometer glass and chemical- and heat-resistant borosilicate glass. His optical glass contributed to the development of modern optical instruments. For microscopes and later also for telescopes, optical systems with apochromatic correction, that is, considerably reduced color aberrations, were designed.
Product diversification and by a growing export organization contributed much to the concern’s expansion in the years prior to the Great War. In addition to microscopes Zeiss marketed photo lenses from 1890, measuring instruments from 1893, and terrestrial telescopes from 1894. Astronomical optics followed in 1897, medical instruments in 1898, photogrammetrical instruments in 1901, surveying instruments in 1908, and eyeglasses in 1912. International relations were cultivated at an early stage. Zeiss visited the Paris World Fair in 1867, and Schott was repeatedly active as a manager in Spain, establishing a chemical factory in Oviedo and a production facility for window glass in Reinosa. These were not, however, owned by Schott. In 1899 about two-thirds of Zeiss instruments were sold abroad. A network of branches and agencies was built up, beginning with Zeiss sales offices in London, in 1901, and Vienna, in 1902. Branch factories were established in Vienna; in Györ, Hungary; Riga; and London in the first years of the Twentieth Century. The reputation of the concern, the excellence of its products, and the commercial success of its enterprises had a far-reaching impact on the industries in which it was involved. Bausch and Lomb of Rochester, New York, acquired licenses from Zeiss, and the concern acquired a minority interest in this American company in 1908.
From 1910 to 1926 various German camera factories were amalgamated step-by-step into the Zeiss Ikon AG, famous for its Contax brand. The glass works at Jena, upon which much of the concern’s success was based, formally became a subsidiary in the year 1919. In 1928 the firm Hensoldt und Söhne of Wetzlar was acquired, followed by Anschütz und Compagnie, a manufacturer of navigational instruments. There followed a period of consolidation and expansion of the concern’s product line to encompass all sectors of optical instruments, photographic equipment and materials, and other instruments.
Subsidiaries of the firm include:
Anschütz AG, Frankfurt (navigational instruments)
Deutsche Spezialglas AG, Heidelberg (ophthalmic and technical glass products)
Goerz Photochemisches Werk AG, Berlin-Zehlendorf (specialist photographic materials)
Hanseatische Werkstätten für Feinmechanik und Optik AG, Hamburg (navigational and optical equipment)
Jenaer Glaswerk AG, Jena (high-quality glass and lenses)
Kamera-Werkstätten AG, Dresden-Niedersedlitz (cameras and photographic equipment)
Karl Braun Fabrik optischer Geräte und Metallwaren AG, Nürnberg (range-finders and optical equipment)
Optische Werk Osterrode AG, Osterrode (photographic and telescopic equipment)
Prontor-Werk Alfred Gauthier AG, Berlin (scientific instruments)
Rudolf Winkel AG, Göttingen (scientific instruments)
Schott Zwiesel-Glaswerke AG, Paderborn (consumer glassware)
Sendlinger Optische Glaswerke AG, Berlin-Zehlendorf (technical glass and lenses)
Wetzlar Optische Werke AG, Wetzlar (telescopes etc.)
Zeiss Ikon AG, Dresden (cameras and photographic equipment)