This edition of Discovery examines German partition and reunification as seen through the lens of one of the country’s most prestigious companies, Carl Zeiss. Like Germany itself, Carl Zeiss was divided after 1945 and the history of the two Zeiss factories, both specialising in optical technologies, mirrors post-war political, social and technological separation and subsequent re-unification.
Reporter Tim Whewell charts the history of the company, founded in 1846, which built a global reputation for producing high quality microscopes, scientific instruments, cameras and lenses. Originally based in Jena in eastern Germany, the company was split at the end of the Second World War, with the Americans taking top Zeiss scientists west, to Oberkocken and the peoples' enterprise, V.E.B Carl Zeiss Jena, continuing in the GDR.
Like Germany itself, where early post war hopes lingered that the country wouldn't be divided, both parts of the Carl Zeiss company initially struggled to maintain contact. But the bitterness and mistrust of the Cold War soon created deep political, economic and social divisions and the two parts of the company became bitter international rivals, arguing about who owned the Carl Zeiss trademark on the world market.
But in November 1989, 20 years ago, the Berlin Wall came down and while Germany reunified, Carl Zeiss in Oberkocken was determined that it too, should be reunited with Carl Zeiss in the East. For this Discovery, Tim Whewell, speaks to the key figures who negotiated the subsequent unification of Carl Zeiss, to workers in Jena, many of whom lost their jobs and to current staff and the company's leadership about the impact of this merger.
This edition of Discovery is part of BBC World Service’s 1989: Europe’s Revolution coverage, marking the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
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