Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/03/03
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]At 10:55 AM 1999-03-03 -0800, Mark Rabiner wrote: >The latest I've read is that Barnak brought his >camera design over from Zeiss because they STHEO* kept making him sweep >the floors! >* something to the effect of No, Barnack was a foreman mechanic at Zeiss, and hardly swept floors. It is immensely more complex than that. Barnack was a product of the older school of German optical production; he had come up as an apprentice and had worked his way up without much formal schooling. He worked for Zeiss for some years as a microscope designer, but that concern had been the first in Germany to place a premium on the possession of a college degree or equivalent certification. And Barnack was an asthmatic: as such, he wished to be placed on the Zeiss medical-health-insurance plan but, at the time, this was restricted to management only, and he was simply a foreman. Zeiss sent him to ICA in an attempt to circumvent this restriction, but it didn't work. At that time, Barnack's friend, Mechau, had been hired by Leitz and talked the Leitz people into offering Barnack a job which did include the desired medical insurance coverage, along with a house and unlimited sick-leave. So, Barnack jumped ship and became the head of mechanical design at Leitz, working on microscopes and similar technical gear. All of this occurred some time before Barnack ever dreampt of the UR-Leica. Marc msmall@roanoke.infi.net FAX: +540/343-7315 Cha robh bas fir gun ghras fir!