

In front, left to right: Rear cap, special dot filter, lens shade, front cap. Very rare Leica soft-focus Thambar lens from the 1930s with original leather case.

In 1950, west of the skyscraper of 1911, a skyscraper of similar construction with nine floors was added. Even so, the building was built in 1938 between the two oldest skyscrapers.

Due to the urban landscape that characterized the size of the building, the planning of the district government was initially rejected because of a simple and unsatisfactory exterior design. The government of the city and the district finally approved a construction of eight floors with a loggia-like ninth floor, that later was closed. It was possible to access all the floors through two stairs. The building was built with a concrete construction modeled from the production halls of Opel in Rüsselsheim, Zeiss in Jena and Wernerwerk in Berlin. The plan was now made up of eight floors for Leica production. In 1936, the architect presented a completely revised plan. The general design shows a mixture of very graphic elements and remains of curved Modernist forms that recall the buildings by Joseph Maria Olbrich at Mathildenhöhe of Darmstadt.

LEICA III SERIAL NUMBERS FOR BLACK ENAMEL BODIES WINDOWS
The still existing façade drawings show the columns with arches on the ground floor and that are fitted between a long strip of windows with excessive pilasters. Once again, it was Jean Schmidt, who prepared the plans for a first seven-story skyscraper. The space between the two skyscrapers (which originally had been provided with subsequent buildings) had to be closed by another building in the early 1930s. In the ten-axis building, similar to the oldest skyscraper, the lower levels are grouped by pilasters. Again, the original plan, which provided a horizontal structure of the building through the cornucopia, was abandoned in favor of a simpler façade design. The basement building was made of reinforced concrete with brick stairs. After the planning of Jean Schmidt, contractor Robert Schneider built a four-story building in 1911. Only a few years later, Leitz again demanded the construction of a tall building. The mansard's floor expanded as production and workers also increased. On either side of the central building there was a hip roof with high ceilings. The fourth floor is visually separated from the lower part of the building by a very distant cornice. Narrow wall patterns and lightly embedded parapets summarize the three lowest floors. The four-story building is divided into six groups of windows, each of which has three windows. However, in the same year, it was decided to use the new construction of concrete skeletons and a simpler façade design. The first plans of the architect Jean Schmidt in 1907 show a brick building on a stone base, which was covered by a sloping roof and a slate roof. The oldest part of this row of tall buildings is now hidden by a new building at the Schützenstraße. In the first years, residential buildings and workshops on the Laufdorfer Weg were still sufficient.Īt the turn of the century, the production of optical devices expanded so much that it originated the first skyscrapers in the city of Wetzlar. The Wetzlar factory was located on the opposite side of the administrative building of 1957 and formed a special urban architecture it is upstream from the slope of Kalsmunt and forms a structurally attractive graduation from the skyscrapers to the ruins of Kalsmunt Castle.Īlready in the last decades of the 19th century, Ernst Leitz and its production facilities had moved to the slopes of Kalsmunt. 5.1 L-Mount Alliance with Sigma and Panasonicįrom the year 1907 to the 1950s, the buildings that formed Leica factory were built on Ernst Leitz Street in Wetzlar, and remained until 1986, when the factory was moved to the city of Solms.4.9.1 Digilux-series digital system cameras.4.7 Q-series large-sensor compact cameras.4.6 S-series reflex (digital medium format).4.5 TL- and CL-series (APS-C sensor with matched lenses).4.3 L-mount mirrorless (dual-scale sensors and lenses).
