More than 130 years ago, Otto Schott developed a number of completely new glass types. With his pioneering spirit, he became a trailblazer in the specialty glass industry. Since then, SCHOTT innovations have been changing the world – a long history guided by the principle of sustainability.
Otto Schott (1851-1935) is considered to be the inventor of modern glass science and the forerunner of the specialty glass industry. With his systematic research, the chemist was the first to develop glasses with precise predetermined properties that could be reproduced at any time. His completely new optical and technical specialty glasses surpassed everything that had gone before.
In 1884, together with the physicist Ernst Abbe and the optician and precision mechanic Carl Zeiss, he founded the Schott & Associates Glass Technology Laboratory, a small laboratory in Jena, Germany. Using groundbreaking developments in glass, he embedded the pioneering spirit deep into the DNA of SCHOTT. At the same time, his special glasses enabled a wide range of advances in science and technology.
Thanks to his life’s work, Otto Schott occupies a unique position in the history of glass. Showing great responsibility as an entrepreneur, he also supported the visionary ideas of Ernst Abbe and became the co-founder of the Carl Zeiss Foundation.
At our founding site in Jena, Germany, you can delve deeper into our history. Visit our museum at the SCHOTT Villa and delve through the SCHOTT Archives, our fascinating collection of historical documents and objects.
