Great son of a great father - On the occasion of the 100th birthday of Erich Schott

Abstract

Erich Schott was born 100 years ago, on March 29, 1891. He was the son of Otto Schott, the pioneer of modern glass technology, who had founded in 1884 in Jena, together with Ernst Abbe, Carl and Roderich Zeiss, the later-to-be Jenaer Glaswerk Schott & Gen. Erich Schott grew from early on into the tradition of glass making and, in 1927, he succeeded his father in the glassworks. For more than half a century, he controlled decisively the fortunes of the company in eventful times [1 to 4]. After World War II and the loss of the factory in Jena, Erich Schott conducted the "trek of the 41 glass makers" to the western part of Germany. The crowning event of his life's work was the reconstruction of the present Schott Glaswerke in Mainz. He laid the foundations for the development of the company into Europe's leading special-glass manufacturer. The stock of ideas of the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung has always been the guideline of his scientific, entrepreneurial and social activities. In 1956, he was awarded the Otto-Schott-Denkmünze by the Deutsche Glastechnische Gesellschaft that, in 1971, elected Erich Schott its honorary member.