Stand purported to have been made by Carl Zeiss himself

To mark the 200th birthday of its founding father on 11 September 2016, the ZEISS Archives acquired a historical microscope. It is highly likely that the simple microscope, which dates back to 1850, was made by none other than Carl Zeiss himself.

Manfred Eichel from the German town of Lahntal acquired the microscope at a pharmacy closeout sale back when he was a young boy. He offered it only to ZEISS. As there was no instrument quite like it at the corporate archives in Jena, ZEISS purchased the very well-preserved microscope. It has no discernible serial number, is secured onto a wooden base and features hand supports and a rotating diaphragm. “We are delighted to have such a rare specimen, which is said to have been made by our founder himself,” explains Dr. Wolfgang Wimmer, Head of the ZEISS Archives, during the official handover. “It is an excellent addition to our historical collection.” 

First, the microscope will be part of the touring exhibition “Carl Zeiss (1816–1888) – a visionary entrepreneur” that will run at the Goethe Galerie mall in Jena as of 5 September. Subsequently, this rare artifact will go on display at the Microscopy customer center alongside other historical microscopes. “Our customers both in Germany and abroad never fail to be fascinated with our company’s history,” affirms Dr. Markus Weber, CEO of Carl Zeiss Microscopy GmbH. “Only a handful of companies can look back over such a long tradition.” 

Carl Zeiss was born in Weimar on 11 September 1816. He opened a small workshop for precision mechanics and optics in Jena in 1846, laying the foundation for today’s global technology player ZEISS. Zeiss began by designing, building and repairing physical instruments. In 1847 he began producing simple microscopes, and from 1857 onwards he also built compound microscopes. 

1866 saw the beginning of his collaboration with Ernst Abbe with the goal of placing the production of objective lenses on a solid mathematical foundation. From 1872, only objective lenses produced in line with Abbe’s calculations were sold. High demand led to the growth of the enterprise. Zeiss’s collaboration with Otto Schott, whose new optical glass contributed significantly to furthering the success of the enterprise, commenced in 1879.

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