Camera factory Ferdinand Merkel

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The camera factory Ferdinand Merkel was a small camera workshop founded in 1900 by the master mechanic Ferdinand Merkel in Tharandt near Dresden.

history

In the beginning, the workshop made simple wooden cameras, which were then refined with tropical woods. 20 years later the folding plate cameras typical of the time were manufactured. After the 25th anniversary of the factory, the number of employees and the number of cameras on offer increased significantly. Despite the constant demand for Merkel cameras, the company went bankrupt in 1928.

In 1929 Ferdinand Merkel tried a simple "Methar" reflex camera , which, however, was not produced for long. In order to continue to present innovations, plate cameras with a Bakelite coating as corrosion protection were introduced from 1930 .

In 1932 the company finally went bankrupt. Fritz Richter and his wife took over the business under the new name of Kamera-Werk C. Richter. The company was modernized and expanded. This enabled the Reflecta, presented in 1931, to be partially put into production. The first cameras could be delivered from the turn of the year 1933/1934. The Reflecta was a two- lens reflex camera . This camera, with its technical improvements and an affordable price, became the company's core business. Due to the great demand at home and abroad, a global distribution system controlled in Vienna was created. From mid-1940 the company had to make deliveries for the armaments industry and stop production.

Welta Reflekta II, ≈ 1950

After the end of the war, production of the Reflecta SLR camera was resumed. In July 1945 the order came to dismantle the company. Only a few machines and equipment remained. Reflecta cameras were built with the help of remnants. The company was confiscated at the end of 1945 and expropriated by the Saxon referendum in 1946. Since the industrial administration 24 OPTIK took over the operation, this was renamed Reflekta-Kamerawerk Tharandt , operation of the industrial administration 24 optics. In 1947 the Reflecta was available again and series production could be continued. In mid-1948 the company was subordinated to VVB Feinmechanik-Optik-Elektrotechnik of the State of Saxony. The new company name was now camera factory Tharandt. At the Leipzig spring fair in 1949, the company presented the modified camera. The camera is now also written with a "k" instead of a "c". After further changes, the Reflekta II has now been presented. From March 1, 1950, the Tharandt camera factory was incorporated into the Welta factory.

Known products

  • Minerva flat camera
  • Mignon
  • Mars
  • elite
  • Tropical camera "Phoenix"

Web links