Marga Faulstich (16 June 1915 – 1 February 1998) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

glass Glass is an amorphous (non-crystalline solid, non-crystalline) solid. Because it is often transparency and translucency, transparent and chemically inert, glass has found widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in window pane ...

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a graduated scientist trained in the study of chemistry, or an officially enrolled student in the field. Chemists study the composition of ...

. She worked for

Schott AG Schott AG is a German multinational glass company specializing in the manufacture of glass and glass-ceramics. Headquartered in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, it is owned by the Carl Zeiss foundation, Carl Zeiss Foundation. The company's ...

for 44 years. During this time, she worked on more than 300 types of

optical Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behaviour of visible, ultravio ...

glasses. Forty

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an sufficiency of disclosure, enabling discl ...

s were registered in her name. She was the first woman executive at Schott AG.

Life and work

Marga Faulstich was born in

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), German state of Thuringia, in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt to the west and Jena to the east, southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together w ...

in 1915. She had two siblings. In 1922, the family moved to

Jena Jena (; ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 in ...

, where Faulstich attended secondary school. After graduating from high school in 1935, she began training as a graduate assistant at Schott AG, one of the leading manufacturers of optical and technical specialty glasses in Europe. In her early years there, she worked on the development of

thin films A thin film is a layer of materials ranging from fractions of a nanometer ( monolayer) to several micrometers in thickness. The controlled synthesis of materials as thin films (a process referred to as deposition) is a fundamental step in many ...

. The findings from the

basic research Basic research, also called pure research, fundamental research, basic science, or pure science, is a type of scientific research with the aim of improving scientific theories for better understanding and prediction of natural or other phenome ...

performed then are still used in the manufacture of

sunglasses Sunglasses or sun glasses (informally called shades or sunnies; more names Sunglasses#Other names, below) are a form of Eye protection, protective eyewear designed primarily to prevent bright sunlight and high-energy visible light from damagin ...

, anti-reflective lenses, and glass facades. A talented young woman, Faulstich quickly advanced in her career – from graduate assistant to technician, then to scientific assistant, and finally to scientist. Her fiancé died in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and from then on, she focused only on her career. In 1942 she studied

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

while continuing to work at Schott. She could not finish her studies because the situation changed after the Second World War. The most advanced

glassmaking Glass production involves two main methods – the float glass process that produces sheet glass, and glassblowing that produces bottles and other containers. It has been done in a variety of ways during the history of glass. Glass container ...

facility in the world at that time was in Jena, which lay within the

Soviet occupation zone The Soviet occupation zone in Germany ( or , ; ) was an area of Germany that was occupied by the Soviet Union as a communist area, established as a result of the Potsdam Agreement on 2 August 1945. On 7 October 1949 the German Democratic Republ ...

. Faulstich was among 41 specialists and managers of Schott AG brought to the western sector where a new

research laboratory A research institute, research centre, or research organization is an establishment founded for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research. Although the term often implies natural ...

was built in

Landshut Landshut (; ) is a town in Bavaria, Germany, on the banks of the Isar, River Isar. Landshut is the capital of Lower Bavaria, one of the seven administrative regions of the Free state (government), Free State of Bavaria, and the seat of the surrou ...

in 1949 for the people from Schott AG to continue their work. After the plant in Jena was

expropriated Eminent domain, also known as land acquisition, compulsory purchase, resumption, resumption/compulsory acquisition, or expropriation, is the compulsory acquisition of private property for public use. It does not include the power to take and t ...

in 1948 and the

division of Germany Division may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication *Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting of 10,000 to ...

was firmly established in 1949, it was decided that a new plant would be built in

Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...

for the "41 glassmakers" of Schott AG. The new plant on the outskirts of Mainz-Neustadt ('new town') was opened in 1952. Here Marga Faulstich continued working on research and development of new

optical glass Optical glass refers to a quality of glass suitable for the manufacture of optical systems such as optical lenses, Prism (geometry), prisms or mirrors. Unlike window glass or crystal, whose formula is adapted to the desired aesthetic effect, optic ...

es, with a particular focus on lenses for

microscope A microscope () is a laboratory equipment, laboratory instrument used to examine objects that are too small to be seen by the naked eye. Microscopy is the science of investigating small objects and structures using a microscope. Microscopic ...

s and

binoculars Binoculars or field glasses are two refracting telescopes mounted side-by-side and aligned to point in the same direction, allowing the viewer to use both eyes (binocular vision) when viewing distant objects. Most binoculars are sized to be held ...

. In addition to her research, Faulstich managed a crucible melt. Marga Faulstich received international recognition for the invention of the lightweight lens SF 64, for which she was honored in 1973. In 1979 she retired after working at Schott AG for 44 years. She spent the following years travelling to distant lands, but still gave lectures and presentations at glass conferences. She died on 1 February 1998 in Mainz, at age 82. Google honored her in a

doodle A doodle is a drawing made while a person's attention is otherwise occupied. Doodles are simple drawings that can have concrete representational meaning or may just be composed of random and abstract art, abstract lines or shapes, generally w ...

on its homepage on 16 June 2018.

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Faulstich, Marga 20th-century German chemists 1915 births 1998 deaths 20th-century German inventors 20th-century women inventors German women chemists