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Microscope Museum Collection of antique microscopes and other
scientific instruments |
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Microscope
151 (C
Reichert; microscope stand D, combination Dafne; c. 1925)
Carl
Reichert (1851 – 1922) was an optician who established one of the principal
microscope manufacturing firms in Europe in the late 19th century.
Reichert married into the Leitz family in 1874 (and
was son in law of Ernst Leitz). In 1876 in Vienna,
he founded the Optische Werke C. Reichert. He
employed some Leitz technicians, explaining one
reason why his products were so similar to those of
Ernst Leitz of Wetzlar.
Reichert designed new lenses, lighting equipment for microscopes, and one of
the first microscopes for the study of metal surfaces. By 1900, the company
had produced 30,000 microscopes, and 100,000 microscopes in 1930. Instruments
were usually signed "C. Reichert, Wien". The firm was partially
sold to American Optical in 1962, which was taken over in 1968 by Warner
Lambert. By 1986, this company merged with Jung of Heidelberg and was sold to
Cambridge Instruments, which in 1990 merged with Wild Leitz
to form the Leica Group. In 1999 Reichert stopped microscope production,
concentrating to instruments for sample preparations for transmission
electron microscopy. Microscope 151 is a stand D, combination Dafne
microscope signed with ‘Reichert, Austria’ (Figure 1). The instrument has the
serial number 79961, being dated to c. 1925. The microscope contains a
mechanical substage with condenser and a mechanical Reichert’s stage (Figure
1) with the serial number 6323. The base of microscope 151 contains an inscription
suggesting this instrument belonged to the public health department of
University of Aberdeen.
Figure
1.
Reichert’s stand D combination Dafne microscope (left) and mechanical stage (right)
as pictured in one of the 1940s firm catalogues. LAST
EDITED: 22.11.2020 |
