[Leica] Hensoldt

[Marc James Small <msmall@roanoke.infi.net>]

At 02:05 PM 1999-03-09 -0800, Lucian wrote:
>
>I think you might be misreading HENSOLDT. The inventor of roof prism
>binoculars, also made porros during the war. Owned by Zeiss nowadays
>(they always had a stake in Hensoldt, it seems).
>Makes 99.9% of Zeiss binoculars I think the 20X60 stabilized si still
>Zeiss, but that's it!


Hensoldt was a buddy of Carl Kellner from their apprenticeship days.  When
Kellner founded the optical shop which was to later become Ernst Leitz
Wetzlar, a couple of corporate reorganizations later, he found himself
swamped with microscope and technical orders.  From time to time, wealthy
patrons would attempt to get Kellner to make a pair of glasses or a
spotting scope for them, but he was unwilling to divert his staff from the
cash orders so he would refer these folks to Hensoldt.

Around the turn of the century, Hensoldt needed an infusion of cash to
modernize its plant and to expand its R&D side, so the Zeiss Foundation
(NOT the lensworks:  the Zeiss Foundation owns the lensworks and Gauther
and owned Zeiss Ikon and Deckel -- the Foundation is a charitable trust one
of whose purposes is to promote the growth of the German optical industry)
bought an interest which finally resulted in their absorbing Hensoldt in
the '50's, when they also purchased Voigtlander from Schering.

And, Lucian is also right in saying that all Carl Zeiss binoculars save the
20x60 BGA stabilized glasses are made at Hensoldt.

A nice company, and made nicer by its being founded through the largesse of
the founder of the Leitz works!

Marc

msmall@roanoke.infi.net  FAX:  +540/343-7315
Cha robh bas fir gun ghras fir!