Ernst Leitz GmbH

The ocular was capable of rendering an image with the correct perspective, free of the distortions typical of other microscopes at that time.

The fine mechanic Ernst Leitz I (1843–1920) from Baden arrived at Wetzlar in 1864 and entered service at the Optisches Institut.

He was trained as an instrument maker for physical and chemical apparatus and had several years' experience making watches in Switzerland.

Leitz microscopes improved on other models of their day in several ways, including lighting and optics, particularly with orthoscopic eyepieces.

[2] Paul Ehrlich, inventor of chemotherapy, received the 150,000th one, and Nobel laureate Gerhard Domagk, discoverer of sulfonamides, the 400,000th Leica instrument.

At the beginning of the new century, Leitz introduced eight-hour days and founded a health insurance society for employees.

In 1924 Ernst Leitz II decided that in spite of the weak economy, the apparatus designed by his employee Oskar Barnack should enter serial production.