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Microscope Museum Collection of antique microscopes and other
scientific instruments |
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Mechanical stage from Ernst Leitz
(early 20th century)
Mechanical stage from Ernst Leitz,
named as stage No. 120 in the company’s catalogue from c. 1909 (Figure 1). 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.
Figure 1. Mechanical stage No. 120 from Ernst
Leitz as pictured in one of the firm’s catalogue
from 1909. LAST
EDITED: 31.08.2021 |
