An overview of our company history
| 1949 | Foundation of the company by the physicist Dr. Karl Korth. |
| 1962 | New building at current location. |
| 1968 | Son Jörg U. Korth joins company after completing studies in chemistry. |
| 1972 | MERCK acquires company, creating new opportunities for research and development. |
| 1974 | Extension of factory including air conditioned polishing rooms. |
| 1975 | Acquisition of further Bridgman-Stockbarger furnaces and premelting furnaces for fluoride crystal growth. |
| 1983–1985 | Acquisition of more land and buildings in neighbourhood. Expansion of crystal growth area into new building; separation of crystal growth and optical finishing. Growth of first big BaF2 crystals of 150 mm diameter. Investment in more smaller and medium sized furnaces for BaF2 projects (scintillators). Investment into new machinery for processing big crystals of BaF2, CaF2 and others. |
| 1987 | First processing of beam splitters by diamond turning. |
| 1988 | Start of expansion of growth capacity for fluoride crystals (BaF2) for TAPS project. Setting up newly designed furnaces and control units. |
| 1989 | New Kyropoulos furnace for development of high purity salt crystals for CO2 laser application. |
| 1990–1992 | Improving transmission of fluoride crystals for excimer laser application. |
| 1993 | Takeover of company by Jörg U. Korth from MERCK in September (MBO). Foundation of KORTH KRISTALLE GMBH. |
| 1994 | CaF2 crystal development for UV-stepper application at 193 nm. |
| 1995 | Participation in several EU-projects for UV-crystal material improvement. Growth of 210 mm diameter fluoride crystals of improved quality from LiF, BaF2, MgF2 a.o. (SrF2, NaF diameter 150 mm). Investment in machinery for processing of crystal materials and in metrology equipment for crystal and surface measurement (quality assurance). |
| 2004 | 3rd generation of Korth family takes over responsibility for company together with their father: Anke Korth & Hauke Korth. |
| 2006 | New growth process for KRS-5 crystals. ISO 9001:2000 Certification. |
| 2007 | New optical workshop for large scale lens production from crystalline materials plus mounting of IR objectives. |
| 2009 | 60th anniversary of company`s foundation. |
| 2010 | Within the project SPHERE we delivered CaF2- and Fused Silica Components to be used as parts of a Polarimeter (component of the VLT, Chile) |
| 2011 | Within the project GLORIA we manufactured Potassium Chloride Beamdisplacer and Compensator (dia 104mm). |
| 2012 | Manufacturing of Potassium Bromide Components for the project "AOST" (exploring of marsmond Phobos). |
| 2013 | Presentation of our new edited Compendium which is planned to be updated every two years for the trade fair LASER in Munich. Investment in double-sided machines and a new workshop. Development of CsI growth process. Completion of project DIVE. |
| 2014 | Production of KBr Components starting phase I of Project IASI-NG (exploring of atmosphere) |
| 2015 | Investment in a x-ray machine in order to develop our process of material characterisation. Investment in three machines for sawing and grinding. Jörg U. Korth retires and transfers all his shares to his children Hauke Korth and Anke Evers (both now sole managing directors and partners) Amelie Otto becomes Director of Crystran Ltd. Renovation of the office area. Start of Phase II of Project IASI-NG (production of KBr components). Improving of CNC polishing process. |
| 2016 | Last delivery of KCl beamdisplacers within the project GLORIA. Investment in another CNC polishing machine and also in a new polishing workshop. Purchase of a further saw. Further investments in quality control equipment. First summer party organized by our employees. Now an annual event at Korth Kristalle. Hauke Korth and Anke Evers take over all Crystran shares of Jorg U. Korth (majority shareholder of Crystran Ltd.). |
| 2017 | Further investment in test equipment: Xonox Interferometer. We succesfully completed Phase III of project IASI-NG (delivery of KBr Components) |
| 2018 | Start of expansion of growth capacity. Setting up addtional furnaces and control units. |
| 2019 | 70 years of Korth Kristalle! Meet KORTH and say Moin - our 1st open day for family & friends on the occasion of our milestone anniversary. Acquisition of a non-contact coordinate measuring machine from Keyence. |
| 2020 | Relaunch of korth.de (evomedien.de). |
| 2021 | Sustainability at Korth - unfortunately as a manufacturer of crystals we use a lot of electricity. This year we switched to 100% green electricity. Our complete energy consumption now results from 100% wind power! For our packaging, too, we have switched to wet glue machines with paper rolls instead of plastic adhesive tapes and to boxes made of grass cardboard. Our package filling consists of organic chips and paper. |
| 2022 | The purchase of a wire saw, centering machine, grinding machine, roughness measuring device and beveling machine are just some of our investments this year and last year. We have also developed energetically by converting our building heating to pellets - this also enabled us to create an efficient heating circuit. 2022 At the end of 2022, Anke Evers will leave our company at her own request to devote herself to new projects close to her heart. She remains on friendly terms with Korth Kristalle. |
| 2023 | Since 01 January 2023, Hauke Korth is the sole managing director. |