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Voigtländer () was a significant long-established company within the optics and photographic industry, headquartered in Braunschweig, Germany, and today continues as a trademark for a range of photographic products.


History

Voigtländer was founded in Vienna,
Archduchy of Austria The Archduchy of Austria (german: Erzherzogtum Österreich) was a major Princes of the Holy Roman Empire, principality of the Holy Roman Empire and the nucleus of the Habsburg monarchy. With its capital at Vienna, the archduchy was centered at th ...
, in 1756, by . Voigtländer produced mathematical instruments, precision mechanical products, optical instruments, including optical measuring instruments and opera glasses, and is the oldest name in cameras.


Early beginnings

Johann Christoph Voigtländer (November 19, 1732 in Leipzig – June 27, 1797 in Vienna), the son of a carpenter, came to Prague in 1755, and to Vienna in the same year, and worked from 1757 to 1762 in the workshop of Meinicke, who produced mathematical instruments. Through Johann Voigtländer's skilful achievements, the Minister of State of the
Habsburg monarchy The Habsburg monarchy (german: Habsburgermonarchie, ), also known as the Danubian monarchy (german: Donaumonarchie, ), or Habsburg Empire (german: Habsburgerreich, ), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ...
Prince Wenzel von Kaunitz, drew attention to Voigtländer and Empress
Maria Theresa Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina (german: Maria Theresia; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was ruler of the Habsburg dominions from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position ''suo jure'' (in her own right). ...
of Austria granted Voigtländer in 1763 a so-called trade "Protection Decree" (German ''Schutzdekret/Schutzdecret''): "on the making of mathematical instruments and on an unspecified number of workers", upon which Voigtländer founded his own workshop and whereby he could sell his products relatively unrivalled. In 1767, Voigtländer invented two important tools: a linear device for natural and tapered gauges, and a circular device for elevation,
astrolabe An astrolabe ( grc, ἀστρολάβος ; ar, ٱلأَسْطُرلاب ; persian, ستاره‌یاب ) is an ancient astronomical instrument that was a handheld model of the universe. Its various functions also make it an elaborate inclin ...
, and cartography etc., including, a screw cutting machine, a metal lathe and finishing rollers for sheep wool and silk factories. The production program was supplemented by compasses, tweezers, levelling devices, dioptres and other fine mechanical products. In recognition of his achievements and dexterity, Voigtländer received in 1797 a so-called "national commercial license with all advantages and privileges" (German ''Landesfabriksbefugnis''); this license awarded Voigtländer under certain circumstances the prestige to display the imperial eagle of the
Habsburg monarchy The Habsburg monarchy (german: Habsburgermonarchie, ), also known as the Danubian monarchy (german: Donaumonarchie, ), or Habsburg Empire (german: Habsburgerreich, ), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ...
, but above all the right to establish branch sales offices in all major cities of the empire. In the same year, Voigtländer died, and his successful family business was continued by his widow, their three sons and one daughter. From 1840, Voigtländer's grandson established Voigtländer as a leading photographic company of its time on introducing and producing the Petzval objective lens.


Photography optics and cameras

From 1839, the year, when the invention of photography was being published, came objective optics and from 1840 complete cameras for photography. The Voigtländer objectives were revolutionary because they were the first mathematically calculated precision objectives in the history of photography, developed by the German-Hungarian mathematics professor Josef Maximilian Petzval, with technical advice provided by Peter Voigtländer. Voigtländer went on to produce the first Petzval portrait photographic lens (the fastest lens at that time: f/3.6) in 1840, and the world's first all-metal
daguerreotype Daguerreotype (; french: daguerréotype) was the first publicly available photographic process; it was widely used during the 1840s and 1850s. "Daguerreotype" also refers to an image created through this process. Invented by Louis Daguerre an ...
camera (''Ganzmetallkamera'') in 1840, also bringing out
photographic plate Photographic plates preceded photographic film as a capture medium in photography, and were still used in some communities up until the late 20th century. The light-sensitive emulsion of silver salts was coated on a glass plate, typically thinn ...
cameras shortly afterwards. An original of the 1840 all-metal daguerreotype camera with "No. 84 Voigtländer & Sohn in Vienna" is exhibited in the " Deutsches Museum" in Munich. In 1845, Peter Voigtländer married the daughter of a respected Braunschweig lawyer, whom he met on one of his photographic sales journeys in Braunschweig. Voigtländer had previously set up a branch sales office in Braunschweig, Duchy of Brunswick, at that time the central hub in the German rail network. Compared to Vienna, Braunschweig offered a location advantage regarding the distribution of Voigtländer objectives and daguerreotype camera products due to the greater proximity to the German overseas ports. During the rising social and political tensions in the Austrian Empire leading to the Revolutions of 1848, Peter Voigtländer had joined the political cause of the Democrats and also became
adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of human resources in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed forces as a non-commission ...
to the commander of the Vienna national civil guard—General . As the revolutions escalated during the
Vienna Uprising The Vienna Uprising or October Revolution (german: Wiener Oktoberaufstand, or ) of October 1848 was the last uprising in the Austrian Revolution of 1848. On 6 October 1848, as the troops of the Austrian Empire were preparing to leave Vienna to ...
of October 1848, the counter-revolution had strengthened with full force, and General Messenhauser of the revolting national civil guard, like many others—were executed. Voigtländer at that time had in perception of the power relations withdrawn from the Vienna national civil guard and with his family took refuge in a suburb of Vienna. On the wishes of Peter Voigtländer's wife and when the March revolutions of 1848 hindered the further development of the young photographic company, the family promptly re-located from Vienna to his wife's hometown Braunschweig, where from 1849 Voigtländer established a subsidiary production site, granted on a provisional "Concession for the pursuit of a trade", issued by the city directorate with a term of five years. In September 1852, Peter Voigtländer was successfully awarded a so-called "land-cooperative" (German ''Markgenossenschaft'') and issued the desired unrestricted "Concession for the pursuit of a trade" in the city Braunschweig. In 1864, Peter Voigtländer was honoured by Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria with the Knight's Cross of the Order of Franz Joseph; becoming known as Peter Wilhelm Friedrich Ritter von Voigtländer. On the death of Voigtländer's Vienna works manager, the Vienna business was closed in 1868. Voigtländer Braunschweig changed status to a public ''
Aktiengesellschaft (; abbreviated AG, ) is a German word for a corporation limited by Share (finance), share ownership (i.e. one which is owned by its shareholders) whose shares may be traded on a stock market. The term is used in Germany, Austria, Switzerland (wh ...
'' (Voigtländer & Sohn AG) in 1898. In 1923 a majority of the shares (99.7%) were acquired by Schering AG's photo division and large-scale production then took place in 1925. Over the next three decades, Voigtländer became a technology leader and the first manufacturer to introduce several new kinds of product that later became commonplace. These include the first
zoom lens A zoom lens is a mechanical assembly of lens elements for which the focal length (and thus angle of view) can be varied, as opposed to a fixed-focal-length (FFL) lens (see prime lens). A true zoom lens, also called a parfocal lens, is one ...
for 35 mm still photography (36–82/2.8 Zoomar) in 1959 and the first 35 mm compact camera with built-in electronic flash (Vitrona) in 1965. Schering sold its share of the company to the Carl Zeiss Foundation in 1956, and ''Zeiss-Ikon'' and ''Voigtländer-Vertriebsgesellschaft'' integrated in 1965. Due to falling sales, on 4 August 1971 ''Zeiss-Ikon/Voigtländer-Vertriebsgesellschaft'' ended producing cameras and closed the Voigtländer factory, which employed at the time 2,037 persons. Subsequently, the company moved to the collective enterprise ''Optische Werke Voigtländer'' (Optical Works Voigtländer), in which Carl Zeiss AG, the state of Lower Saxony and the Braunschweig camera manufacturer Rollei each participated to one-third; Later Rollei took over all the shares. On the collapse of Rollei in 1982, Plusfoto took over the name, selling it in 1997 to Ringfoto.


Contemporary times

Since 1999, Voigtländer-branded products have been manufactured and marketed by the Japanese optics and camera company Cosina, under license from Ringfoto GmbH & Co. ALFO Marketing KG; for these, see Cosina Voigtländer.


Lenses

Below is a list of original Voigtländer lens designs (in all variants). * Voigtar, a three element lens. * Vaskar * Helomar * Skopar, Skoparex, Skoparet, Skopagon, Color-Skopar, Color-Skopar X. The basic Skopar is a 4 element Tessar type lens. * Heliar, The Heliar was made over many years, and was usually a 5 element lens, the 75 mm versions were of a 6 element design. The 125 mm version actually had 11 elements. * Dynarex, Dynaret, Color-Dynarex, Super-Dynarex, Super-Dynaret * Septon * Color-Lanthar * Color-Ultron * Zoomar, usually reckoned to be the first zoom lens specifically designed for a 35 mm "still" camera. * Nokton, Super Nokton * Apo Lanthar


Models

File:150411-Voigtländer-01.jpg, Voigtländer Vitomatic IIa with Ultron 50 mm 1:2 File:Voigtlander Bessa & Bessa RF.jpg, Voigtländer Bessa & Bessa RF File:Voigtlander Vito II Camera Digon3.jpg, Voigtländer Vito II File:Vitorets.JPG, Voigtländer Vitoret S File:Voigtlaender vitoret sst.jpg, Voigtländer Vitoret DR File:Vitessa T.jpg, Voigtländer Vitessa T with German manual File:Voigtlaender-superb-2.jpg, Voigtländer Superb File:Voigtländer Bessy ak.jpg, Voigtländer Bessy File:Voigtländer Vitomatic IIa (Front), 1811111401, ako.jpg, Voigtländer Vitomatic IIa camera with Color Skopar f/2.8 lens File:Voigtländer VF 135.jpg, Voigtländer VF 135 * Bessamatic series * Brillant/Brilliant * Vitomatic * Ultramatic series


References


Further reading

*


External links


Voigtländer Heliar Lens Article
* http://www.voigtlaender.com/


Complete list of all Voigtländer cameras and their images
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Voigtlander Photography companies of Germany Lens manufacturers Companies based in Braunschweig