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Microscope Museum Collection of antique microscopes and other
scientific instruments |
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Microscope
381 (Ernst Leitz; stereo
binocular head; mid-20th century) In 1849, Karl Kellner founded the
Optical Institute in Wetzlar, Germany, which in a few years had microscopes
as the main product. The company hired an engineer named Ernst Leitz in 1865,
who soon became a partner. Leitz took over the company in 1869 and renamed it
Optical Institute of Ernst Leitz. Ernst Leitz died in 1920, and his son Ernst
Leitz II became the sole owner of the business. During the 1970s, competition
increased from several companies in Japan, especially Olympus and Nikon,
which were producing modern microscope designs of excellent quality at
relatively low prices. Several venerable microscope companies closed, merged,
or were bought out in Europe and the USA. Wild Heerbrugg bought the majority
ownership of the Leitz Wetzlar company in 1974, but Leitz continued to
develop their new lines of compound microscopes. The last member of the Leitz
family retired from the board of directors in 1986. At the beginning of 1987,
Ernst Leitz Wetzlar GmbH and Wild Heerbrugg AG merged to form the Wild Leitz
Group. The Wild Leitz Group was broken into smaller companies in 1988, and
Leica Camera was split off. The merger of Wild Leitz Holding AG with the
Cambridge Instrument Company in 1990 created the new Leica Holding B.V.
group. The Leica name is now used for all microscopes and other scientific
optical instruments. Microscope 381 is a stereo magnifier head labelled with
“E. LEITZ, WETZLAR” and the serial number 311383, and should be dated to the
mid-20th century. The binocular magnifier body is also engraved with
the magnification information “a5 = 10x”, “a10 = 20x” and “a15 = 30x”. The
instrument is fitted with Charles Baker’s eyepieces. Note: this instrument was kindly
donated by Dave Levell (Pembrokeshire, Wales) in May 2023. |