Microscope Museum

Collection of antique microscopes and other scientific instruments

 

    

Microscope 430 (Fuess; metallurgical microscope; c. 1930)

 

A gold and black microscope

Description automatically generatedA gold and black microscope

Description automatically generatedA gold and black microscope

Description automatically generatedA close-up of a gold and black microscope

Description automatically generatedA gold and black microscope

Description automatically generatedA close-up of a gold microscope

Description automatically generatedA brown box with a gold handle

Description automatically generatedA box with a set of objects

Description automatically generated

Rudolph Fuess was an instrument maker from Hanover, Germany. In 1860, Rudolf moved to Hamburg and started a company four years later, producing microscopes and other scientific instruments. Rudolf was one of the founders of the Imperial Physical and Technical Institute in 1881. He bought the glass manufacturer Greiner & Geissler in 1877, expanding the range of his products, and built a factory in Berlin (Steglitz) in 1891. Rudolf’s son Paul Fuess took over running the company in 1913. In 1932, the company opened an American office in New York City under the name of R. Fuess, Inc. In 1936, another branch was opened in Potsdam (this branch principally made aviation instruments). Work came to a standstill with the defeat of Germany in World War II and the partition of the country, but production resumed in 1948 or 1949. The firm was dissolved in 1976. Microscope 430 is engraved with “R. FUESS, BERLIN-STEGLITZ” and the serial number 51083. The instrument is a metallurgical microscope, with epi-illumination, and should be dated to c. 1930. The instrument has its original wooden box.

Note: this instrument was kindly donated by Dave Levell (Pembrokeshire, Wales) in May 2023.