THE NAME BEHIND THE CAMERA

You know the brand name and you probably know some of the history behind it, but what about the people who made it happen? In this series we look at the personalities who, through often courageous decisions, got us to where we are in photography today. In this article, we’re focusing on the life of Ernst Leitz II – the father of Leica – but also acknowledge the importance of his father in the history of the legendary brand.

In 1849, a mechanic and amateur mathematician, Carl Kellner, established a small optical company in the central-west German town of Wetzlar. The Optisches Institut made, firstly, telescopes and, later, microscopes. Known as the City of Optics, Wetzlar is in the German state of Hesse, about an hour’s drive north of Frankfurt. Kellner died of tuberculosis in 1855, aged just 29, and the business – which then numbered 12 employees – was taken over by his wife.

In 1864, the company hired a talented optical engineer called Ernst Leitz,