It is not often that we
have a chance to rewrite history. This
is one of those instances where it is possible to do so, not by some
revisionist scheme, but with new facts, previously unknown. What I am referring to is the history of the
Ur-Leica. A lot of what we know about
the camera is actually false. I have
written about this topic on several occasions on this blog, and I, like so
many, have been misled by the published findings of others.
We do know the account of
the events that led to the development of the initial prototype of the Leica,
the Ur-Leica. However, there seems to
some misinformation that claims that Barnack's Ur-Leica, the original
prototype, was initially built as an exposure testing device. This confusion stems from the fact that Barnack,
shortly after he came to Leitz in 1910, was given the task to build a motion
picture camera (see: Article). Since no light meters were available at that
time, Barnack did indeed build a small exposure test camera that held just a
few frames of motion picture film. It
were the rather good results obtained from this camera that convinced him to
give 35mm film photography a try, to build the Ur-Leica. I stand by my assertion that this camera was
not the exposure testing device that Barnack made (see: HOW THE LEICA CAME TOBE). It is with the many
accounts of what happened after the development of the Ur-Leica that a lot of misinformation
has been brought forth.
In spite of all the
published information about a second Ur-Leica, there is and always has been
only one example. The account given by
Gianni Rogliatti for instance, that claims that the original Ur-Leica was given
by Oscar Barnack to Ernst Leitz II, and that he used a second version for
himself is inaccurate. Also inaccurate
is Rogliatti’s claim that this camera had been in the possession of the
Deutsches Museum in Munich and was later returned to Oskar Barnack’s son
Konrad, who supposedly later sold the camera to a collector in the US.
Leica Prototype or
Ur-Leica
It is correct that Konrad
Barnack did have a Leica camera that was at the Deutsches Museum for a while,
and it is correct that this camera was later sold by him to a collector, but
this camera was one of the preproduction, Null Serie (0-series) models made by
Leitz prior to the decision to manufacture and market the Leica. This camera was the 0-series camera #105.
Rolf Fricke, one of the
foremost experts of the Leica and cofounder of LHSA, the Leica Historical
Society of America, now called the International Leica Society, wrote the
following:
“The camera that was at
the Deutsches Museum was not an Ur-Leica!!!
It was 0-Series (or Null-Serie) camera No.105, which Konrad Barnack
requested back from that museum and subsequently sold to Jim Forsyth of
Florida. Many years later, Prof. Al Clarke of Columbus, OH and I bought out
that collector, and Al kept No.105, which he later sold to another prominent collector,
and Al also kept the large format camera that Oskar Barnack had used during his
hikes in the woods, and which he found cumbersome and which motivated him to
work on a smaller, handier camera, which led to the Ur-Leica. There is no solid
proof whatsoever that there ever was a second Ur-Leica. References to a second
Ur-Leica are always couched in the words "alleged", or "said to
be", and this eventually creeps into the stories of superficial
historians! The camera that Ernst Leitz took along on his visit to New York was
the original and only Ur-Leica!”
Over the years Rolf has
had a rather personal connection to Leica, much beyond anyone outside of the
company. He explains that he bought his
first Leica, a used model IIIc on February 21, 1949. In Rio De Janeiro, where
he grew up.
“I still have that camera
and the instruction booklet in Portuguese, the camera is still functional!
Next I very naively went
to the local Leitz representative, where a kind elderly gentleman (Paul Louis
Toinndorf) explained to me that the distributor does not handle retail matters,
which are the responsibility of the dealers, but he invited me in anyway and
patiently demonstrated to me what one can do with a Leica, like using a
wide-angle lens, a long focus lens, a close-up attachment, etc, none of which I
could even remotely afford.
He even very graciously
offered to lend me such accessories, all of which endeared the man and his firm
to me. Much, much later I learned that he had completed his apprenticeship at
Leitz in the Hausertorwerk building, the very building where Oskar Barnack had
his office, and he had met that legendary man in person! That warm treatment
endeared the camera to me and created a loyalty that led to further
acquaintances, all the way to the Leitz brothers and sister themselves, and
even repeated stays at the Leitz villa Haus Friedwart.”
A while ago I wrote about
the possibility that I came across a picture of what might be the second
Ur-Leica. It is a picture of a camera
that obviously is of the same design as the known Ur-Leica, but it is outwardly
different. I obtained this picture from
the Deutsches Museum in Munich. I
contacted the museum to shed some more light on this issue. I corresponded with Frau Dr. Cornelia Kemp,
curator for photo and film at the museum.
She wrote about the camera that used to be owned by Konrad Barnack:
Picture of the Ur-Leica
from the Deutsches Museum in Munich
“Bei der Leica handelt es
sich nicht um die Ur-Leica, sondern um die Nr. 105 aus der Nullserie, die ab
1923 hergestellt wurde. Sie gehörte aber nie dem Museum, sondern war ihm von
Oskar Barnacks Sohn Conrad von 1939-45 leihweise zur Verfügung gestellt.”
(The Leica is not the
Ur-Leica, but the No. 105 from the pilot series (0-series) that was produced
from 1923. It never belonged to the museum, it was given on loan by Oskar
Barnack's son Conrad from 1939-45)
Leica 0-Series Camera with optical viewfinder
Leica 0-Series Camera with
folding viewfinder
Dr. Kemp went on to
explain the picture the museum had sent to me:
“Am 30. 9. 1940 bat der
Museumskonservator Theodor Konzelmann Conrad Barnack um Bildmaterial für einen
Vortrag. Unter dem übersandten und am
30. 10. 1940 zurückerstatteten Bildmaterial befand sich auch ein Leica Dia
welches die Ur-Leica darstellt. Ganz
offensichtlich versäumte das Museum nicht , von dem Dia eine Kopie zu ziehen.”
(On 9. 30. 1940 Theodor
Konzelmann, the curator of the museum, asked Conrad Barnack for some
photographic material for a lecture. Among the material sent on 10. 30. 1940
was also a Leica slide of the Ur-Leica. Obviously the museum did not miss out
on making a copy of the slide)
This, however, does not
explain the differences between the camera on the picture from the Deutsches
Museum and the known Ur-Leica that is in possession of Leica Camera AG. Considering that the picture was taken in
1940 or even earlier, it stands to reason that the differences, which are
mostly cosmetic, occurred during the time after the picture was taken,
especially if one considers that until relatively recently, the camera was
handled quite often in a rather cavalier manner.
Rolf Fricke made the
following comment:
“The one and only Ur-Leica
(by definition, it would not be an 'Ur-Leica' if there was more than one!)
traveled around for quite a bit after the Museum picture was taken in 1940. For
example, the former Leitz CEO Alfred Loew brought it to Rochester, NY in
conjunction with a presentation he gave at a Photo History Symposium at George
Eastman House way back in the 1970s, for which I organized the program. He left
the camera with me for a week while he went to Washington, DC on business and
retrieved it on his way back. Nowadays
that camera is highly insured and it is treated with significantly greater
caution and security.”
I can certainly confirm
the relatively careless treatment of the camera from personal experience
because I had the opportunity to handle the camera on two occasions during
annual meetings of the Leica Historical Society. Once it had been brought by Rolf Fricke and
another time by Dr. Wangorsch, then the curator of the Leica Museum in Wetzlar.
We do know of the
existence of another prototype of the Leica, the so-called third
prototype. It is a camera visibly
different from the Ur Leica and it is always shown without a lens. However, there is what should be considered a
third prototype which is relatively unknown.
So called Prototype 3
This camera is thoroughly
described in the Book “Barnacks Erste Leica” (Barnack’s First Leica), written
by Dr. Günter Kisselbach. I did get
permission from Dr. Kisselbach to use some of the pictures from the book. Since I have not yet been able to obtain
this book, I am using a description by Rolf Fricke:
“There is a large, very
well-illustrated book by the very personable Dr. Günter Kisselbach, an
ear-nose-and-throat doctor in Wetzlar, who is the younger son of Theo
Kisselbach, the erstwhile director of the original "Leica
Schule". Guenther's older brother
Wolfgang Kisselbach was the overall manager of the construction of the brand new
purpose-built factory buildings and museum in Leitz Park in Wetzlar.
The book is entitled
"BARNACKS ERSTE LEICA" (= Barnack's first Leica"), and it
features a camera in great detail that is very similar to the 0-series camera
with the same optical finder, except that it is all brass with brown leather
covering and has a different flat dial between the viewfinder and the rewind
knob for setting the slit width (in mm) of the focal plane shutter. Evidently
Kisselbach the father kept that camera when he retired and Kisselbach the
younger inherited it, and he thoroughly studied it and had it disassembled and
adapted for picture taking by expert repairman Ottmar Michaeli (who was one of
my speakers at one of the LHSA Annual Meetings!), all of which is beautifully
illustrated in the aforementioned book.
By "First
Leica", Günter Kisselbach means Barnack's first practical camera (still
not named 'Leica'!) after the Ur-Leica. On page 187 of that outstanding book
there is a photo of "Prototyp Nr.3" in what is left of the Leica
museum, which was plundered for sales when the company was about to go
bankrupt. That camera has no lens mount, a folding, recessed open frame
viewfinder frame on top and an exposure counter on the front of the camera.
There is no rewind knob, and the accessory shoe is located where that knob
would be.”
Barnacks Handmuster
(Sample)
Top of 0-Series Leica for
comparison
Since this camera is so
very close to the 0-series cameras, one must assume that the so-called
prototype Nr. 3 was made prior to it and I feel it is not wrong to refer to it
as the second (not third) prototype.
However, since no date for this camera has ever been established, this
is simply conjecture on my part. What I
can say with certainty at this point is that only one Ur-Leica was made by
Oskar Barnack and that two other prototypes exist from the time prior to the
0-series cameras.
If by chance I dig up any
other interesting facts about the history of the Leica, I will report about it
here.
For more information on
Barnacks Handmuster (Sample) camera go to:
________________________________________________________________________________________
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