Historical microscope

The Carl Zeiss Jena microscope with serial number 57684 was delivered to Dr. R. Fritzsche in Schneeberg/Saxony on June 20, 1912.

This type of microscope was introduced in 1898 and considered the technical and ergonomic needs of its users which was unusual until this time. This very early form of user experience (UX) design became the model for countless other microscope stands around the world. For the first time, the control knobs for the coarse and fine drive were axially parallel, so that they could be operated comfortably even when working for long hours.

Whereas typical microscope stands could previously only be moved when the fine drive was loaded during lifting, these microscope stands used a completely new concept: The specially designed "handle" was designed for everyone to carry the microscope intuitively. This characteristic handle gave the popular stand, which was built in a similar way for more than two decades, the nickname "beer mug". Countless scientists from the first quarter of the 20th century had themselves photographed with the ZEISS "beer mug".