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Siegfried Czapski (28 May 1861 – 29 June 1907) was a German
physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...
and optician.


Childhood, school and university in Breslau (1870–1881)

Czapski was the son of Simon Czapski (1826–1908) and his wife Rosalie Goldenring (1830-1916) on the Obra estate near Koschmin in the Province of Posen. His family was
Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
, and he was related to the physician Albert Neisser. In 1870 Czapski's father suffered a serious accident which left him unable to work. The family sold their estate and moved to Breslau (Wrocław) where, in 1872, eleven-year-old Czapski began attending school at the Maria Magdalenen Gymnasium. In 1879 he completed his university entrance examination (together with Wilhelm Prausnitz,
Richard Reitzenstein Richard August Reitzenstein (2 April 1861, Breslau – 23 March 1931, Göttingen) was a German classical philologist and scholar of Ancient Greek religion, hermetism and Gnosticism. He is described by Kurt Rudolph as “one of the most stimulati ...
and Felix Skutsch) and spent a semester studying at the
University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded ...
, attending lectures by Eduard Riecke (physics),
Moritz Abraham Stern Moritz Abraham Stern (29 June 1807 – 30 January 1894) was a German mathematician. Stern became ''Ordinarius'' (full professor) at Göttingen University in 1858, succeeding Carl Friedrich Gauss. Stern was the first Jewish full professor at a Germ ...
(mathematics) and Rudolf Hermann Lotze (philosophy). At the start of his second semester he switched to the
University of Breslau A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...
, studying physics under Oskar Emil Meyer, Ernst Dorn and Felix Auerbach, mathematics under
Jakob Rosanes Jakob Rosanes (also Jacob; 16 August 1842 – 6 January 1922) was a German mathematician who worked on algebraic geometry and invariant theory. He was also a chess master. Rosanes studied at University of Berlin and the University of Breslau. H ...
and philosophy under
Jacob Freudenthal Jacob Freudenthal (20 June 1839 – 1 June 1907) was a German philosopher. He was born at Bodenfelde, Hanover and died at Schreiberhau. Freudenthal received his education at the universities of Breslau and Göttingen, and at the rabbinical semi ...
. It was during this period that he embarked on a friendship with Arthur Heidenhain (1862–1941) which led to a lifelong exchange of letters.


University and doctorate in Berlin (1881–1884)

In 1881 Czapski switched to the
University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative ...
to study under the physicists
Hermann von Helmholtz Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand von Helmholtz (31 August 1821 – 8 September 1894) was a German physicist and physician who made significant contributions in several scientific fields, particularly hydrodynamic stability. The Helmholtz Associatio ...
and
Gustav Robert Kirchhoff Gustav Robert Kirchhoff (; 12 March 1824 – 17 October 1887) was a German physicist who contributed to the fundamental understanding of electrical circuits, spectroscopy, and the emission of black-body radiation by heated objects. He coin ...
. Here he met Leopold Loewenherz and became interested in experimental physics, which prompted him to start attending more practical, hands-on courses. In 1882 Czapski began work for the Normal-Eichungskommission (Imperial Institute for Weights and Measures) which was headed by the astronomer Wilhelm Julius Foerster. In the autumn of that year he worked on his doctorate under the supervision of
Hermann von Helmholtz Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand von Helmholtz (31 August 1821 – 8 September 1894) was a German physicist and physician who made significant contributions in several scientific fields, particularly hydrodynamic stability. The Helmholtz Associatio ...
, in which he conducted experiments to investigate one of Helmholtz's own theories. He submitted his doctoral thesis to Helmholtz and Kirchhoff in November 1883. In December he embarked on his doctoral exams which were held by Helmholtz and Kirchhoff in physics,
Leopold Kronecker Leopold Kronecker (; 7 December 1823 – 29 December 1891) was a German mathematician who worked on number theory, algebra and logic. He criticized Georg Cantor's work on set theory, and was quoted by as having said, "'" ("God made the integers, ...
in mathematics and
Eduard Zeller Eduard Gottlob Zeller (; 22 January 1814, Kleinbottwar19 March 1908, Stuttgart) was a German philosopher and Protestant theologian of the Tübingen School of theology. He was well known for his writings on Ancient Greek philosophy, especiall ...
in philosophy. In February 1884 he took his
Rigorosum The oral exam (also oral test or '; ' in German-speaking nations) is a practice in many schools and disciplines in which an examiner poses questions to the student in spoken form. The student has to answer the question in such a way as to demons ...
oral examination (doctoral viva) to complete his doctorate.


Technical optics: Carl Zeiss in Jena (1884 onwards)

His interest in physical and technical optics (the design and fabrication of optics) enabled him to gain a position at
Carl Bamberg Johann Carl Wilhelm Anton Bamberg (born 12 July 12, 1847 in Kranichfeld, died 4 June 1892 in Friedenau) was a German engineer and entrepreneur. He began his career as an apprentice at Carl Zeiss. In 1871 he founded his own company, manufacturing ...
's workshop for scientific precision instruments (subsequently known as the Askania works). Keen to explore these areas in more depth, he approached
Ernst Abbe Ernst Karl Abbe HonFRMS (23 January 1840 – 14 January 1905) was a German physicist, optical scientist, entrepreneur, and social reformer. Together with Otto Schott and Carl Zeiss, he developed numerous optical instruments. He was also a c ...
from the Zeiss works in Jena. Abbe soon appointed Czapski as his assistant – a post he held until 1886 – and involved him in his discussions with the physicist Leonhard Sohncke from the University of Jena. As Abbe's assistant, Czapski maintained a relatively loose connection to Zeiss as a company and continued to accept work from Bamberg, but all that changed in 1886 when he was hired to work full-time at Zeiss, becoming Abbe's most trusted employee with the approval of Carl and Roderich Zeiss). Abbe involved Czapski in his theoretical studies as early as 1885. It was Czapski who went on to publish these studies the following year because Abbe himself had neither the time nor the patience, being too occupied with his development projects. In 1893, after five years of work, Czapski finally completed his contribution to Adolf Winkelmann's Handbuch der Physik (Encyclopedia of physics) entitled Theorie der optischen Instrumente nach Abbe (Theory of optical instruments according to Abbe). The 300-page work was issued that very same year as a separate publication from volume II of the encyclopedia and was hailed as a key work in the field of technical optics. Working with Abbe and
Otto Schott Friedrich Otto Schott (1851–1935) was a German chemist, glass technologist, and the inventor of borosilicate glass. Schott systematically investigated the relationship between the chemical composition of the glass and its properties. In this wa ...
in Jena and with
Leopold Dippel Georg Heinrich Leopold Dippel (4 August 1827 – 4 March 1914) was a German botanist. He was the son of a royal Bavarian forester, Carl Friedrich Peter Dippel, and Sussanna Purpus. He attended schools in Kaiserslautern and Zweibrücken. From 1845 ...
in Darmstadt, Czapski was involved in the design and fabrication of new
microscope A microscope () is a laboratory instrument used to examine objects that are too small to be seen by the naked eye. Microscopy is the science of investigating small objects and structures using a microscope. Microscopic means being invisi ...
optical systems from the moment he started work in Jena. He subsequently worked on the technical implementation of a binocular microscope based on ideas put forward by the American biologist Horatio S. Greenough. As the company expanded, so too did its range of products: Zeiss started producing photographic objectives in 1890, optical measuring instruments in 1892/93, prism binoculars in 1893/94 (a development based on significant input from Czapski),
astronomical instrument Astronomical instruments include: *Alidade * Armillary sphere *Astrarium * Astrolabe *Astronomical clock *the Antikythera mechanism, an astronomical clock *Blink comparator *Bolometer *the Canterbury Astrolabe Quadrant * Celatone * Celestial spher ...
s in 1897 and image measuring devices in 1901. Czapski steadily took on more and more responsibility as Zeiss increased its product portfolio and workforce and as its fame spread far beyond the borders of Germany. In 1891 he became one of the company's three managing directors.


Establishment of the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung

Founded in 1889 by Abbe, the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung (Carl Zeiss Foundation) took the entire Zeiss company and half of the Schott company under its wing in 1891. Czapski was subsequently appointed as an authorized representative of the Foundation. Working closely with Abbe and a foundation inspector from the Grand-Ducal Saxon State Ministry in
Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...
(initially Karl Rothe and from 1899 onwards the Government Privy Council Max Vollert), Czapski played an ever greater role in managing the company, something that took an increasing toll on his health. Abbe already had the university trustee Heinrich Eggeling and the lawyer Eduard Rosenthal involved in drawing up the Foundation statutes and he soon included Czapski in that task – even though by this point Czapski was increasingly overwhelmed by concerns and problems relating to the workforce. Work on the statutes was completed in 1895/96.


Siegfried and Margarete Czapski

In 1885 Czapski's life changed dramatically when he met and fell in love with Margarete Koch. Margarete (officially spelled Marguerite) was the granddaughter of Abbe's teacher, the mathematician and physicist Karl Snell. Margarete's father was a professor at a grammar school in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
and a nephew of
Juliette Drouet Juliette Drouet, born Julienne Josephine Gauvain (10 April 1806 – 11 May 1883), was a French actress. She abandoned her career on the stage after becoming the mistress of Victor Hugo, to whom she acted as a secretary and travelling companion. ...
, who was
Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...
's partner for much of his life. His wife Ottilie Koch (née Snell) often brought their daughter to visit her father in Jena. Ottilie was also the sister of Abbe's wife, Else Abbe. It was inevitable that 24-year-old Czapski and 19-year-old Margarete Koch would eventually meet. Just weeks after getting to know each other they got engaged, secretly at first. They agreed that they would marry when Margarete turned 21. The wedding took place on 11 August 1887. Their marriage produced eight children: * 1888 Charlotte ("Lotte") * 1889 Hans * 1891-1968 Helene, married name Holzman * 1892 Ewald * 1894 Elisabeth, married Wilhelm Flitner * 1896 Dorothea * 13 July 1902 Reinhardt * 22 December 1903 Anna-Maria ("Anni") Czapski had long been suffering from ill health, and his huge workload made the situation even more difficult. On 29 June in
Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...
he died of a pulmonary embolism due to complications after an appendectomy. Having been the close working companion of his friend and mentor Ernst Abbe, and ultimately his successor, Czapski was only destined to outlive Abbe by a mere two-and-a-half years.


Honor

A street in Jena, near the Carl Zeiss works, is named after him: Siegfried-Czapski-Straße, a few blocks off Zeiss Promenade.


Publications

His most important publication was ''Theorie der optischen Instrumente, nach Abbe'' (Breslau: Trewendt, 1893).


Further reading

* Andreas Flitner, Joachim Wittig (ed.): Optik – Technik – Soziale Kultur. Siegfried Czapski, Weggefährte und Nachfolger Ernst Abbes. Briefe, Schriften, Dokumente, Hain-Verl., Rudolstadt 2000, * Friedrich Stier: Czapski, Siegfried. In: Neue Deutsche Biographie (NDB). Vol. 3, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1957, , p. 456 f. (digitized copy).


References


External links

*
collected short bios of Czapski
{{DEFAULTSORT:Czapski, Siegfried 1861 births 1907 deaths Optical engineers 19th-century German Jews Jewish physicists German scientific instrument makers People from the Province of Posen