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Microscope Museum Collection of antique microscopes and other
scientific instruments |
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Microscope
536 (Ernst Leitz; measuring loupe; 1960s) 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 536 is a measuring loupe,
also potentially used as a cloth counter, with an eight times magnification
power. The instrument is signed with “Leitz,
Wetzlar, Germany”, and should be dated to the
1960s. |