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Microscope Museum Collection of antique microscopes and other
scientific instruments |
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Microscope
201 (Paul
Waechter; microscope – trichinoscope - stand Va; c. 1900)
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 201 is a trichinoscope signed as “Paul Waechter,
Friedenau”, contains the serial number 19426, and can be dated to c. 1900.
This is an example of a Waechter’s stand Va microscope, and versions were
sold with and without a joint allowing the inclination of the limb (Figure
1).
Figure 1. Waechter’s stand Va microscope as
pictured in the 1903
catalogue of Henry Heil, St. Louis, USA. References Paul Carl Friedrich
Waechter, 1847 – 1893 (http://microscopist.net/Waechter.html), last accessed on
22.07.2021 Paul Waechter 15937,
Model Va, circa 1890 (https://www.bononiaemicroscope.com/en/the-microscopes/germany/126-paul-waechter-15937.html), last accessed on
22.07.2021 LAST
EDITED: 31.08.2021 |
