SCHOTT AG

What they do

SCHOTT develops and makes specialty glass, glass-ceramics and related materials. Its products end up in cooktops, telescopes, semiconductor equipment, pharmaceutical containers, optical systems, electronics and home appliances. Much of its work is materials science applied to demanding conditions: heat, chemical attack, precision and stability.

The company began in 1884 as a small glass laboratory in Jena founded by the chemist Otto Schott together with Ernst Abbe and Carl Zeiss. After the Second World War, management and specialists were brought to West Germany, and a new main factory opened in Mainz in 1952.

Why it matters

Optical and technical glass underpins much of modern science and industry. SCHOTT's ZERODUR glass-ceramic barely expands with temperature, which makes it suitable for telescope mirrors, including the segmented primary mirror of the Extremely Large Telescope in Chile, and for precision positioning in chip manufacturing.

In consumer markets, the company describes CERAN as the world's best-selling glass-ceramic cooktop. In healthcare, its glass tubing and containers hold vaccines and injectable drugs, a role that came into sharp focus during the pandemic.

Products to know

• ZERODUR: a near-zero expansion glass-ceramic for astronomy, lithography and metrology.
• CERAN: glass-ceramic cooktop panels used by appliance makers.
• FIOLAX: pharmaceutical glass tubing for vials, ampoules and syringes.

The German angle

SCHOTT's corporate model is distinctive. Since a 2004 reform it has been a stock corporation whose sole shareholder is the Carl Zeiss Foundation, the same foundation that owns ZEISS. The foundation's statute dates back to the 19th century and was designed by Ernst Abbe to secure the companies' independence and commit them to science and social responsibility.

The firm's history also spans Germany's division. Its original Jena works ended up in East Germany, while the Mainz operation grew in the West, and the two were reunited after 1990. Few companies illustrate the links between German science, industry and history so directly.