Ernst Abbe Fonds
The Carl-Zeiss-Foundation, together with its two foundation companies, the present-day SCHOTT AG and Carl Zeiss AG, established the Ernst Abbe Fonds in 1989 in honor of its benefactor. The foundation Ernst Abbe Fonds is managed by the Stifterverband.
The proceeds from the wealth of the foundation flow into two separate research awards that each have a value of over EUR 20,000 and have been awarded on an alternating basis for many years as the "Carl Zeiss Award for Young Researchers" and the "Otto Schott Research Award" to motivate and promote leading researchers and excellent young scientists. Both research awards are governed by the Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft and presented on an international basis.
Born in Eisenach on January 23, 1840, Ernst Abbe was a physicist, inventor, entrepreneur and social reformer. With his theory of image formation in the microscope, he is seen as one of the founders of scientific optics. He joined the company Carl Zeiss as a scientific employee in 1866. In 1876, Carl Zeiss made Ernst Abbe a partner and designated him as his successor in the company.
In 1884, the glass chemist Otto Schott along with physicist Ernst Abbe and optician and precision mechanic Carl Zeiss, founded a small glass laboratory in Jena, Germany. The Schott & Associates Glass Technology Laboratory was formed for the development and production of new types of specialty glass. Over time, the small glass laboratory developed into the SCHOTT Group, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of specialty glass.
To ensure the continuation of the company regardless of the personal interests of the owners, Ernst Abbe created the Carl Zeiss Foundation in 1889, which he made the sole owner of the of the ZEISS and SCHOTT companies. In the Foundation statues of 1896, he specified that company profits be used to promote science and employees in the company. Far ahead of his times, he codified the constitution of the company here in a legally binding form.
On the occasion of its 100th anniversary, the Zeiss Foundation established the Ernst Abbe Fonds and endowed it with assets totalling DM 2 million. The Fonds promotes science in the fields of precision mechanics, optics, electronics, glass and glass ceramics. It is managed and administered in trust by the Stifterverband.