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Microscope Museum Collection of antique microscopes and other
scientific instruments |
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Microscope
22 (Carl
Zeiss; microscope stand E SA; 1926) In 1846, Carl Zeiss opened a workshop for precision
mechanics and optical instruments in Jena. He focused his activities more and
more on microscope production. Soon he was supplying not only the regional
market but also shipping his wares around the world. In 1866, Carl Zeiss
recruited the physicist Ernst Abbe to help him improve his microscopes. In
1877, Ernst Abbe became a partner in the company. After the passing of Carl
Zeiss in 1889, Ernst Abbe created the Carl Zeiss Foundation, which would
become the company’s sole owner. Since the 1890s, Abbe’s findings and his
style of working have also been adopted in other fields of optics. This led
to the creation of all-new products, new business areas and rapid growth for
the company. In 1893, the first subsidiary was opened in London. Before the outbreak
of WWI, sites were established across the world, which then had to be closed
when war broke out. There were more ups and downs between then and 1945.
Thereafter, the sites outside Germany have been developing in a stable manner
and today, Carl Zeiss AG is a holding company with several subsidiaries. In
addition to its sites in Oberkochen and Jena, its
main production sites are in Wetzlar and Göttingen
in Germany, Dublin and Minneapolis in the US, and Shanghai in China. Microscope 22 is a Carl Zeiss stand
E SA microscope with the serial number 184387 (Figure 1). This instrument was
delivered in New York in 1926 (according to the Carl Zeiss archive), and it
was advertised as a microscope for diagnostics. Figure 1. Carl Zeiss
microscope stand E SA as pictured the company’s catalogue from 1927. References ZEISS
History (https://www.zeiss.com/corporate/int/about-zeiss/history.html),
last accessed on 02.08.2020 LAST EDITED: 30.08.2020 |