Carl Kellner (March 26, 1826 – May 13, 1855) was a German mechanic and
self-educated
Autodidacticism (also autodidactism) or self-education (also self-learning and self-teaching) is education without the guidance of masters (such as teachers and professors) or institutions (such as schools). Generally, autodidacts are individu ...
mathematician
A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems.
Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...
who founded in 1849 an "Optical Institute" that later became the Leitz company, makers of the
Leica
Leica Camera AG () is a German company that manufactures cameras, optical lenses, photographic lenses, binoculars, rifle scopes and microscopes. The company was founded by Ernst Leitz in 1869 (Ernst Leitz Wetzlar), in Wetzlar, Germany.
...
cameras.
Biography
Carl Kellner was born in
Hirzenhain
Hirzenhain is a municipality in the Wetteraukreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is located approximately 45 kilometers northeast of Frankfurt am Main. It has a population of around 2,800.
History
From 1943 to 1945 the area was the site of '' :de:Arbeits ...
,
Wetteraukreis
The Wetteraukreis is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the middle of Hesse, Germany. Neighbouring districts are Landkreis Gießen, Vogelsbergkreis, Main-Kinzig-Kreis, district-free Stadt Frankfurt, Hochtaunuskreis and Lahn-Dill-Kreis.
History
The distr ...
, in
Hesse
Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are Da ...
. In 1849 he founded in
Wetzlar
Wetzlar () is a city in the state of Hesse, Germany. It is the twelfth largest city in Hesse with currently 55,371 inhabitants at the beginning of 2019 (including second homes). As an important cultural, industrial and commercial center, the un ...
a company called ''"Optisches Institut"'' for the production of
lenses
A lens is a transmissive optical device which focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements ...
and
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 invisibl ...
s. Kellner had invented a new
achromatic
Achromatic means literally “without color”. It may refer to:
* Achromatic colors, “greys” or “neutral colors”, also black or white
* Achromatic lens, a lens designed to minimize chromatic aberration
* Achromatic vision:
** Monochroma ...
combination of lenses for an
eyepiece
An eyepiece, or ocular lens, is a type of lens that is attached to a variety of optical devices such as telescopes and microscopes. It is named because it is usually the lens that is closest to the eye when someone looks through the device. The ...
, published in his treatise ''Das orthoskopische Ocular, eine neu erfundene achromatische Linsencombination'', that was able to produce an image with correct
perspective
Perspective may refer to:
Vision and mathematics
* Perspectivity, the formation of an image in a picture plane of a scene viewed from a fixed point, and its modeling in geometry
** Perspective (graphical), representing the effects of visual per ...
and without the distortions that were usual for other optical instruments of the time. His invention is still useful and known as the
Kellner eyepiece.
Legacy
After his early death in Wetzlar in 1855 from tuberculosis at the age of 29, his widow led the company, which had twelve employees at that time. In 1856, she married her employee
Friedrich Belthle Friedrich may refer to:
Names
*Friedrich (surname), people with the surname ''Friedrich''
*Friedrich (given name), people with the given name ''Friedrich''
Other
*Friedrich (board game), a board game about Frederick the Great and the Seven Years' ...
(February 27, 1829 – May 9, 1869), who from then on managed the company. In 1864,
precision mechanic
Precision mechanics (also "fine mechanics") is an engineering discipline that deals with the design and construction of smaller precision machines, often including measuring and control mechanisms of different kinds.
The study may be further defi ...
Ernst Leitz I
Ernst Leitz II (1 March 1871 – 15 June 1956) was a German business person and humanitarian. He was the second head of the optics company now known as Leica Camera and organized the Leica Freedom Train to allow people, most of whom were Jewish, ...
joined them; he became a partner on October 7, 1865, took over the company in 1869 and re-founded it as the ''Ernst Leitz GmbH''. The company expanded quickly; its newly developed
binocular
Binocular may refer to:
Science and technology
* Binocular vision, seeing with two eyes
* Binoculars, a telescopic tool
* Binocular microscope, binocular viewing of objects through a single objective lens
Other uses
* Binocular (horse), a thoroug ...
microscope was a market success.
See also
*
Leica Camera
Leica Camera AG () is a German company that manufactures cameras, optical lenses, photographic lenses, binoculars
Binoculars or field glasses are two refracting telescopes mounted side-by-side and aligned to point in the same directio ...
References
Milestones of Leicaby
Wild Leitz AG
Wild, wild, wilds or wild may refer to:
Common meanings
* Wild animal
* Wilderness, a wild natural environment
* Wildness, the quality of being wild or untamed
Art, media and entertainment Film and television
* ''Wild'' (2014 film), a 2014 A ...
.
*
The development of 35mm photography', Times Journal of Photography, July 2002.
*
Leitz Leitz may refer to several German companies:
* Esselte Leitz GmbH & Co KG, founded by Louis Leitz in 1896, a German manufacturer of office products
** Louis Leitz (1846–1918), German inventor and founder of Esselte Leitz GmbH & Co KG
* Leitz GmbH ...
, in German.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kellner, Carl
1826 births
1855 deaths
Businesspeople from Hesse
People from Wetzlar
Lens designers
German businesspeople in the healthcare industry
German scientific instrument makers