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Microscope Museum Collection of antique microscopes and other
scientific instruments |
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Microscope
464 (Paul
Waechter; stand IX microscope c. 1885) 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 464 is not signed but its original (but damaged) wooden box is
engraved with “Paul Waechter, Berlin” and the serial number 6877. The
instrument should be dated to c. 1885 (Figure 1). The instrument corresponds
to the Waechter’s Stand IX microscope. Figure 1. Paul Waechter’s stand IX microscope
as pictured in the Pharmazeutische Zentralhalle für Deutschland (1880). |