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Foundation and Early Years (1886–1900)
The company C. P. Goerz was founded in 1886 in Berlin by entrepreneur Carl Paul Goerz. Initially, the firm traded in mathematical instruments for schools, but by 1887 Goerz entered the photographic market, and in 1888—after acquiring the workshop of F. A. Hintze—began manufacturing cameras of its own. In 1890, with the start of in-house optical lens production, the enterprise adopted the name Optische Anstalt C. P. Goerz, specialising in photographic equipment.
One of the earliest technological milestones was the adoption of the focal-plane shutter. The inventor Ottomar Anschütz developed this innovative shutter in 1888, enabling extremely short exposures up to 1/1000 s. Goerz bought the exclusive rights, and in 1892 released the world’s first camera with such a shutter — the Anschütz Moment Camera (9×12 cm format). This camera revolutionised fast-action photography and became very popular. After Anschütz’s death the folding model evolved into the long-produced Ango series, which remained in production for over thirty years.
At the same time Goerz pursued optical research. In the 1890s, the firm employed outstanding designers such as Emil von Höegh, who created the celebrated six-element symmetric anastigmat known as the Dagor. This lens became one of the company’s most iconic products, licensed internationally — for example, to Ross in London in 1893. Goerz lenses were installed by prestigious camera manufacturers abroad: Rochester Optical Co. used them on several models, and Kodak equipped its No. 3 Folding Pocket Kodak (1901) with Goerz optics.
By the end of the 19th century Goerz was expanding rapidly. It opened a Paris branch in 1893, a New York office in 1895, and one in London by 1899. Production volumes increased sharply: roughly 4 000 lenses were made by 1891 and nearly 30 000 by 1896. In 1895 Goerz established its American branch, which by 1905 became the independent C. P. Goerz American Optical Co., operating until 1972.
Parallel to its photographic work, Goerz began to supply military optics. As early as 1891 the Prussian military administration placed orders, and by 1897 Goerz was manufacturing telescopes and other field instruments. Thus, at the turn of the century the company had already become a major supplier of both civil and military optical technology.
Expansion and Technological Breakthroughs (1900–1914)
In the early 20th century Goerz continued to innovate. In 1900 the firm released the extraordinarily wide-angle Hypergon lens, covering 135° and used for architectural and landscape photography. Its optical concept later influenced famous Zeiss designs such as the Topogon, Hologon, and Biogon.
Goerz also produced an extensive range of photographic lenses — Celor, Dogmar, Artar, Frontar, Tenastigmat, and others — covering applications from portraiture to aerial photography. The company created entire camera families, such as the Tenax series: Plate Tenax (4.5×6 cm), Pocket Tenax (6.5×9 cm), Stereo-Tenax, and the roll-film Tenax (from 1921). The name “Tenax” was later revived by Zeiss Ikon for a 35 mm camera.
Production expanded impressively. By 1903 the firm became a joint-stock corporation with capital of 3.5 million Marks. The workforce grew from roughly 300 employees in 1897 to more than 1 300 by 1908–1909, and about 2 500 by 1911. To support this growth Goerz constructed a vast new factory complex, the Goerzwerk, in the Berlin suburb of Lichterfelde-Friedenau. Construction began in 1912, and by 1915 the modern plant, complete with its own optical testing tower for rangefinders, was fully operational.
At the same time, the company worked closely with the scientific community. In 1909 Goerz created a special meteorological and aeronautical division, led by the renowned meteorologist Arthur Berson. This department produced barometers, altimeters, thermographs, and other instruments for meteorological services and for aviation. Among Goerz’s distinctive civilian products of the 1910s were elegant “mysterious barometers” — table aneroids in which both the dial and pointer were enclosed between glass plates while the measuring mechanism was hidden in the base, a striking example of Art-Deco scientific design.
Goerz products won numerous medals at major exhibitions. As early as 1889 the company earned a bronze medal at the Photographic Jubilee Exhibition in Berlin. In 1893 it received a diploma in Salzburg, and at the 1894 Antwerp World Exhibition the firm won the gold medal in photographic technology. In 1899 Goerz was awarded top distinctions at international shows in Florence, Stuttgart, and Baden-Baden. These awards firmly established the firm as one of the world leaders in optical engineering on the eve of the First World War.
Military Production and the First World War
By 1900–1914, Goerz had become one of the world’s major suppliers of military optics. In 1903 a dedicated military division was established. Goerz produced field binoculars, artillery panoramic sights, submarine periscopes, and especially stereoscopic rangefinders for artillery and naval forces. In 1899 the company became the German representative for Barr & Stroud, supplying British-designed rangefinders to the German market and expanding its military portfolio.
When the First World War began, Goerz shifted almost entirely to military production. The workforce grew dramatically—from roughly 2 500 before the war to about 12 000 employees by 1916–1918. Goerz also absorbed the firm Körting & Mathiesen (Leipzig), adding searchlight production to its capabilities. These arc-lamp searchlights with Fresnel optics were used in air-defence, naval operations, and coastal signalling.
The war years pushed Goerz’s engineering capabilities to their maximum, but they also made the company highly dependent on military contracts.
Post-war Crisis and Merger into Zeiss Ikon
Germany’s defeat brought severe consequences. The Treaty of Versailles prohibited German manufacturers from producing military equipment. For Goerz — whose factories were structured around the military sector — this was almost fatal. The firm attempted to reorient itself toward civilian goods. In the late 1910s and early 1920s it produced mechanical adding machines, laboratory devices such as saccharimeters, and other precision instruments. Yet recovery proved impossible; by the mid-1920s Goerz was close to bankruptcy.
The solution was consolidation. In 1926, C. P. Goerz merged with three major German camera makers — ICA, Contessa-Nettel, and Ernemann — forming Zeiss Ikon AG, with Carl Zeiss holding a majority stake. This merger unified Germany’s photographic and optical industry under Zeiss leadership and saved Goerz’s assets from liquidation.
After 1926 the name C. P. Goerz disappeared from new German products. Lens production was concentrated in Jena, and only limited runs of Dagor lenses continued. The Berlin factory was integrated into Zeiss Ikon’s structure.
However, certain product lines survived in new forms. For example, the lightweight consumer box camera Box-Tengor, originally created in the early 1920s under the Goerz brand, continued under the Zeiss Ikon name until the late 1930s, often equipped with the Goerz Frontar lens.
More importantly, the Berlin Goerzwerk site evolved into a centre for precision mechanical locks and security technology. Before the merger, Goerz had collaborated with Hahn AG on the innovative cylindrical Profilzylinder lock. Under Zeiss Ikon this became a major product line, and the IKON trademark later became synonymous with high-quality lock systems.
In 1929, the newly founded Fernseh AG, one of Germany’s pioneering television-technology firms, located part of its operations within the Goerzwerk complex, turning the site into a broader technological hub.
Post-war Developments and Successor Companies
After the Second World War Zeiss Ikon was divided between East and West Germany. The Berlin site, located in the American sector, became part of the West German corporate structure. Zeiss Ikon continued to produce cameras (including the famous Contax rangefinders) until the early 1970s, when economic pressures led to the end of its photographic division.
Meanwhile, the security-hardware branch flourished. The IKON brand — inherited from Zeiss Ikon — grew into one of Europe’s leading names in lock and access-control systems. In the 2000s IKON became part of ASSA ABLOY, the global leader in security technology, whose German headquarters today occupy the historical Goerzwerk complex.
Several foreign branches of Goerz also had long independent histories:
Thus, the legacy of C. P. Goerz outlived the company itself. Although the firm ceased to exist as an independent manufacturer in 1926, its optical innovations, technological solutions, and industrial infrastructure continued through Zeiss Ikon, Schneider Kreuznach, Meopta, Ikon/ASSA ABLOY, and other successors. The celebrated Dagor lens remained a benchmark for large-format photography, and numerous optical designs pioneered by Goerz influenced the development of 20th-century optics.
Today, the historical Goerzwerk building in Berlin survives as an industrial monument and a centre for modern creative and technological enterprises — a living reminder of the more than century-long heritage of Carl Paul Goerz and his groundbreaking company.
