|
|
Microscope Museum Collection of antique microscopes and other
scientific instruments |
|
|
|
|
|
Microscope
210 (assigned
to Paul Waechter; stand IV (V) microscope c. 1900)
Paul
Waechter (1847 - 1893) was trained to be an optician and mechanic at the
famous Zeiss Optical Workshop in Jena, Germany. In 1872, Waechter founded his
own optical workshop, and his earlier instruments were signed ‘Paul Waechter,
Berlin’. Between 1872 and 1892, Waechter produced over 20,000 microscopes,
mostly for the examination of trichinae in meat. By 1890, Paul Waechter moved
his workshop to Friedenau and the microscopes produced were then signed ‘Paul
Waechter, Friedenau’. After the death of Waechter in 1893, his longtime
assistant, Herr Puchler, directed the company. Later, Puchler and another
master mechanic, Paul Prasser, formed a partnership and continued the
business into the early 20th century. At this time, the business was named
‘Optische Werkstaette Paul Waechter’. Microscopes produced by the company
often did not bear a signature or serial number on the microscope itself, but
these items were reserved for the wood case that normally accompanied the
instrument. Sometime after the turn of the century, the firm was moved from
Berlin to Potsdam in the former German State of Prussia (now Poland). At that
time, instruments were signed ‘Paul Waechter, Potsdam’. By the mid-1930s the
business was taken over by the Pridat family. Operations of the firm appear
to have been suspended during and immediately after the Second World War. In
1958, the company again reappeared when their registered office moved to
Wetzlar, Germany. Microscopes produced in the 1960s and 1970s were signed ‘P.
Waechter, Wetzlar’. Microscope 210 is not signed but is clearly from Paul
Waechter and should be dated to c. 1900 (Figure 1). The instrument
corresponds to Waechter’s Stand IV (or V) microscope and is built upon a
conventional continental design horseshoe foot. The stage can move slightly
up or down. Coarse focus is by moving the body tube of the microscope up or
down within a brass sleeve that is attached to the pillar with a bar limb.
The fine focus is peculiar, where a spring bar extends below the stage.
Extending through the pillar is a control knob that can be used to exert
pressure on the back of the bar, and this moves the stage up or down to
afford fine focus. Two versions existed for this microscope, No. IV and V,
differing only in the optics with which they were supplied. Microscope 210
contains a wheel or apertures under the stage, which is different from the
system described for this stand in Waechter’s catalogue from 1890. This may
suggest that microscope 210 is a later version.
Figure 1. Paul Waechter’s stand IV/V microscope
as pictured in his microscope catalogue No. 14 from 1889. References Paul Carl
Friedrich Waechter, 1847 – 1893 (http://microscopist.net/Waechter.html), last
accessed on 13.08.2020 'STATIV
IV (V) OR STAND #4 (5) MICROSCOPE' (https://www.microscope-antiques.com/waechter.html), last
accessed on 25.08.2021 51f. Microscopio monocular
Waechter P. Berlín. Modelo Stativ V (https://www.perea-borobio.com/51f-microscopio-monocular-waechter-p-berlin-modelo-stativ-v/), last
accessed on 25.08.2021 51e. Microscopio monocular
Waechter P. Berlín. Modelo Stativ IV (https://www.perea-borobio.com/51e-microscopio-monocular-waechter-p-berlin-modelo-stativ-iv/), last
accessed on 25.08.2021 LAST
EDITED: 31.08.2021 |
