2008

Roger Smith

Winston Churchill Memorial Trust

6/21/2008

A Survey of Camera Obscuras in continental Europe

Contents

● Summary

● Introduction

● What is a Camera Obscura?

● The SIS conference – museum treasures discovered

● Paris – mainly CNAM – overnight to Barcelona

● Lisbon, Jerez and Cadiz - The Sinden Effect

● Flight to Bologna – Parma, Padua &Venice

● The Hungarian Connection

● Transylvania – 8 hrs East of Budapest - neglect

● Back to civilisation –the Danube & the vineyards

● Bern and the UEFA Cup

● North through Germany – Munich & Frankfurt

● East to Dresden and the Polish border

● The suburbs of Paris – and Chevaliers meniscus prism

● Alone on Mt. St Michel

● Bibliography

● Timeline

● Summary

My aim was to report on the condition, use and technical specification of camera obscuras

throughout continental Europe. In addition I hoped to carry out research on portable camera

obscuras held in museums.

I decided on the route of the 7000 mile survey by the location of 19 permanent camera obscuras

sites in Holland, Belgium, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Hungary, Romania, Austria, Switzerland

and Germany. I travelled by train as far as possible, in the tradition of a 19th

c. Grand Tour - apart

from Portugal where train links didn‟t fit the schedule, so I flew from Lisbon to Bologna.

I found that most camera obscuras were operational – like the one on a ferry across the Danube but

others had disappeared over time. I also discovered many more portable camera obscuras in

museum collections. Some were unusual and made by significant scientific instrument makers and

inventors such as Fahrenheit and Daguerre – the French inventor of photography. Together these

discoveries helped me better understand the development of camera obscuras since the 17th

century.

For me it was a revelation to experience the differences in culture, the widespread goodwill I

received in all the countries I visited and to fill in the gaps in my knowledge in part of the jigsaw of

the European history of science.

This Survey was made possible by the award of a Travelling Fellowship by

The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust

Camera Obscuras Survey

Route

5th

May to 20thJuly 2008

● Introduction

I‟m often asked exactly how I got into Camera Obscuras (CO‟s). Well, it‟s a tortuous but logical

route starting with an interest in photography, building pinhole cameras, using cameras in research

at RAE Farnborough , engineering at Marconi‟s Research Labs at Gt. Baddow, Chelmsford – and

then teaching optics as a Physics teacher. Things came into focus when I retired from inspecting

schools and decided to follow a lifelong interest in woodworking. So, I signed up for a two year

course in Restoration at Rycotewood College in Thame, Oxfordshire. The course was excellent and

in the second year I was accepted by The

Museum of History of Science (MHS), Oxford

University, as an intern for work experience. The

next thing I knew, I was with Jim Bennett, the

director, who presented me with a large

mahogany box containing a bewildering

collection of metal components saying “We

don‟t know exactly what this is – but can you

have a look at it and discover what it does”

.After assembly it turned out to be a

Perspectograph. - an optical drawing aid circa

1850 made by Adrien Gavard, a scientific

instrument maker of Paris and exhibited at the

Great Exhibition of 1851. The clue to its history

came through the maker‟s name, which allowed

me to research it at the Bodleian library.

Knowing I had to decide on a major project for the course,

and following the optical theme, I kept my eyes open for

something suitable at MHS. I selected a Reflex Camera

Obscura c. early 19th

c. which I could measure up and

examine in detail, in order to make an exact replica. This

proved to be challenging, in terms of replicating the original

manufacturing techniques – particularly making the wood

screw threads for mounting the lens, but very rewarding on

completion.

My interest was now aroused in the whole species of

Camera Obscuras and their history. I continued to make

them and after two friends – Alison Strugnell and Dr. David

Royston-Airey -successfully completed their Winston

Churchill Fellowships I was inspired to apply myself in

order to study them in depth. Most CO‟s are in Europe, so

that‟s where I planned my route after much research on the

internet.

1 The Museum of the History of Science. Oxford

2 My copy of an early 19thc.

Reflex Camera Obscura

● What is a camera obscura*

It is a name given too many different objects, but what they all have in common is an aperture

through which light enters and a dark enclosed space. The space can be a room, a box, or a tent with

a surface or screen directly opposite the aperture. The light, often passing through a lens, forms an

image of the outside scene on a screen. The phenomena of images forming when light passed

through a small gap in the leaves of a tree was noticed by Aristotle and Leonardo de Vinci during

eclipses of the sun. As the moon passed in front of the sun the image formed on the ground became

a crescent shape, This diagram shows how the light forms an inverted (i.e. upside down) image on

the screen. The earliest type was simply a room with a hole in a wall or in a window blind.

3 An early room-type camera obscura

* A name first coined by Joanne Keppler in the early 1600's .The words „camera obscura‟ come

from Latin meaning‟ dark room‟. In fact Italian for‟ room‟ still is „camera‟. Or another example

from law is when evidence is heard „in camera‟ which means in the judge‟s private room.

● Treasures discovered – the Scientific Instrument Society’s Conference at

Utrecht.

I organised the survey to start with the annual week-long conference of The Scientific Instrument

Society in Utrecht 5-10 May as I knew that the conference would include visits to museums which

had CO‟s in their collections. Leaving England on the 3rd

May on Eurostar from Waterloo, I

changed trains at Brussels for Antwerp. It was here that a camera obscura had been set up in the

1860‟s overlooking the river Scheldt. Positions of sunken mines were marked on its screen which

could be detonated by electric current through wires as enemy ships reached their position -

according to John Hammond in „The Camera Obscura – A Chronicle‟. Unfortunately, I could find

no evidence of this quite exotic use. There nothing at the Maritime Museum either but here I was

redirected to The Photo Museum. There I found two camera obscuras exhibited – an 18th c. reflex,

minus viewing screen, and the optics of an early 19th

c. tent type using a meniscus prism.

On the 5th

May I travelled from Antwerp to Utrecht by train for the start of the conference. Utrecht

was swarming with cyclists, which could appear unexpectedly from anywhere. The next day we

visited Boerhaave Museum in Leiden where a

camera obscura by William Storer was made

available for inspection, together with other

scientific instruments. William Storer a London

optician and instrument maker patented this camera

obscura as a „Royal Accurate Delineator‟ in 1778.

Fifty were made and four survive. This is quite a

luxurious reflex camera obscura made from

mahogany and covered with a green cloth studded

with brass rivets. The cover has the coat of arms in

brass of George III – most likely a form of product

patronage labelling. It has a rack and pinion

focussing mechanism for its horizontal bi-convex

lens and a 3-drawer sliding box interior and uses an

additional lens under the final screen (missing) for a

brighter image. Used as a drawing aid. We visited

two museums on the Wednesday – the first in Delft

where we were able to view scientific instruments in

the store of the technical museum

No CO‟s seen but a multitude of others. Little seen in the way of optical instruments but a lot of

measuring instruments e.g. gravity together with a fascinating satellite tracking system and every

electrical instrument I‟d ever

used in electronics. After a

restaurant lunch we went to the

Maritime Museum in Rotterdam

– not that exciting and

unsurprisingly limited to

instruments relating to sailing

and seamanship. The most

interesting exhibit was the

restoration of a gun-ship „The

Buffle‟ – superbly detailed

below decks and a realistic

creation of life there. Built to

ram and made of iron (not steel),

both features were the latest

technology of the time aimed at

beating contemporary sailing ships. The day finished with a delightful river trip at Kinderdejh to see

the windmills – a Unesco Heritage site – definitely worth a detour. The following day we visited the

Eise Eisinger (1744-1828) Planetarium at Franeker. Here we saw the oldest surviving planetarium

4 A reflex camera by Willam Storer 1788

Dimensions 23.5 by 40 by 25.5cm

5 Ceiling Planetarium by Eise Eisinger at Franeker

in the world built into the ceiling of his living room. King Willem 1 of the Netherlands visited

Eisinga to see the planetarium – a major honour for a man who was originally a woolcomber and a

so-called farmer scientist both mathematician and

craftsman.

In the afternoon we visited the University Museum

at Groningen- a very pleasant, clean and tidy town

swarming with students. Here I discovered an

unusual camera obscura by Fahrenheit in the form

of a model eye. It was made of brass on a

mahogany stand with the inscription. There was

also a reflex camera obscura c. 1725 made of

mahogany and glass probably by van

Musschenbrook.

Back in Utrecht we were treated to an excellent

student guide on the Friday at the University

Observatory. This was easily the best

demonstration and image of the Suns spectra using

a diffraction grating I had seen. We also had the

opportunity to look through several telescopes -

including one at the sun. In the afternoon we

walked to the University Museum to see a wide

selection of scientific instruments the highlight for

me being a collection of camera obscuras one as a

folding book, another as a walking cane top and

also a 4 viewer type. All needed restoration but

were rare finds. These are shown below.

This instrument originates from the Delft painters family of Verster. The

objective lens has a focal length of about 40-50 cm and diameter of 60 mm.

A mirror is mounted to reflect the light downwards through the lens and

can be adjusted for focussing. The whole instrument can be folded into a

rectangular box.

7 A wooden, foldable camera obscura.

The objective is a convex lens with a focal length of about 15

cm and an aperture of 31 mm which can be adjusted for

6 Camera Obscura in the form of a

model eye, by Fahreheit - 1790

8 A small wooden reflex

camera obscura

focussing. An internal plane mirror at 45º reflects the image onto a ground glass screen, which is

protected from stay light by a hinged wooden cover and side panels.

The instrument is a large pyramid-shaped wooden box with viewing holes

in all four sides. One side has a small door. On top of the box the

(incomplete) optical system is mounted which originally had two lens

combinations. The missing lower lens could be adjusted with respect to the

upper lens system by means of the focusing mechanism. The upper lens

system is made of two lenses with an aperture of 10 cm. An adjustable

mirror is also missing.

This scioptric ball consists of a wooden sphere holding two lenses

mounted between two wooden plates - similar to a ball and socket

joint. When mounted in the shutter of a room it could be rotated to

give images of views outside of the room. In this example

unfortunately one of the original plano-convex lenses has been

replaced with a meniscus spectacle lens.

An unusual conical, wooden camera obscura. The instrument

consists of a horizontal lens with a 12 mm aperture, a mirror and a

ground glass screen, 24 mm diameter viewed by the walker. Most

likely this instrument was originally attached to a walking-stick.

● Paris – mainly CNAM* – overnight to Barcelona

Leaving Utrecht on Sat.10th

May, I caught the 8.03 to Rotterdam where I changed to catch the

THALES train to Paris, checking in at the Mecure Monty which was adequate. I walked to the

Conservatoire Nationale des Arts et Metiers (CNAM) for an overview then to Chartiers for an

economical meal in traditional style. On Sunday remembered that only 3 copies of William Storers‟

Royal Delineator exist - Museum Boorharve, Science Museum London and here at Bercy in Paris at

the „Cinematheque Francais. Here I also saw an older Camera Obscura c.1780,– another collapsible

to a book shape – quite crudely made. I was fortunate to catch also a special exhibition devoted to

Georges Melies a friend of Houdini. Here were many fascinating exhibits with items from the

Houdini theatre which he made including props for optical stage illusions. I attempted to use the

9 Pyramid shaped, 4

view camera obscura

10 A Scioptric Ball (see text)

11 A walking-stick camera

obscura

public Velo-Libre system of bike hire en route. After watching two locals for 15mins trying to

extract a bike from its stand which included discussing the hiring process with a help line, I decided

against. Later I was told by the helpful lady at the Office de Tourisme that many tourists come

unstuck with involuntary debits and protracted reclaim processes when using a credit card.

However, I thought it was a good system –we need one in Oxford

Monday 12 th and its Bank Holiday – some museums closed some open. I visited two – the Louvre

and the Grand Palais. Here there was an exhibition of sculpture by Richard Serra consisting of 5

seventy three

ton rectangular

steel plates

embedded in

the ground of

the cavernous

interior of the

huge crystal -

palace like

Grand Palais.

The following

day I met

Marie-Sophie

Corsy,

supervisor of

the

Communication

s Dept. at The

Conservatoire National des Arts et Metiers. Unfortunately I was unable to handle the exhibits as

paradoxically the museum was open. There were three excellent Camera Obscuras by Daguerre and

Charles. The Daguerre an example of a transitional type and was the ancestor of the modern

camera. It consisted of of two boxes

connected by a „sliding drawer‟

enabling the image to focus. The front

box contained the lens while the rear

box contained the frosted glass and the

plate holder. That evening I caught the

overnight sleeper to Barcelona from

Gare Austerlitz in Paris. It was a 4-

berth compartment with me a silent

older Frenchman and a 20 stone

Englishman. Partial sleep achieved.

Arrived in Barcelona 8.20am, then

went to meet my wife Sue at the Placa

Espana. There was some confusion

over the arrival and departure stops for

12 Transitional Camera Obscura by Daguerre

the airport coach which resulted in both Sue and I wandering around with mobiles‟ looking for a

worried wife‟ as Sue said at the time. We caught the 9am express from Barcelona to Madrid and

over the weekend went to the Museum of Science and Technology. Rather lack lustre with no

camera obscura

● Lisbon, Jerez and Cadiz – the ‘Sinden effect’

On Sunday 18th

we flew to Lisbon. First stop St. Georges Castle after walking along steep cobbled

roads arriving late to catch the last demonstration (in Portuguese) of a permanent Camera Obscura

there. This is a modern example made and installed by Sinden Optical Ltd. a British company. It

has a focal length of 7.4 m, lens diam. 300mm, mirror diam. 430 mm, with a screen diam. of 2.25

m. It gave a clear panoramic view of surrounding Lisbon‟s older area.

Next morning we drove from Lisbon across the border with Spain to Jerez. Here I was hoping to see

another Sinden installation of a Camera Obscura at the Palacio de Villaviencio which has a 300mm

diameter lens of focal length 5m. This however was the wrong day of the wrong week of the wrong

year! There‟s a wine festival every two years and this year involved the staff at the Palicio, from

12th

May until the 1st June. Disappointed, but we enjoyed looking around Jerez –obviously wealthy

because of the sherry business. After a 30 min drive into Cadiz we got directions from the tourist

office to the last of the Sinden trio of Camera Obscuras in this neck of the woods. This was in the

Torre Tavira. It was easily the best demonstration so far with excellent backup marketing and

information through the associated shop. The image was clear and bright with a commentary on the

panoramic view in both Spanish and French. It‟s another modern Camera Obscura built in 1994.

The lens is 300mm dia. with a focal length of 5.25m. We then had a wander around Cadiz which

had a friendly ambience with much of the 16th

/17th

c. buildings intact. All the major bodegas

seemed to be there- e.g. Tio Pepe.

13 Image formed by Sinden Camera Obscura, Cadiz

Wednesday 21st May we were up early for a 5 hour drive back from Jerez to Lisbon and shortly

after arrival delighted to meet up with our close friends Noah and Beth Scott who came out to visit

the camera obscura in Lisbon. That evening we had a memorable hot and cold buffet in a Mexican

restaurant.

● Flight to Bologna – Parma, Padua and Venice

The next stage of the journey was by air in order to get me from Portugal to Bologna Italy in the

shortest time. In the afternoon I visited the astronomical museum in the observatory tower of the

University of Bologna. These were the original rooms, now preserved – the meridian room ( sala

meridiana), the turret room ( sala dela toretta), and the globe room ( sala del globi). I was given an

informative tour by Francesca Ferrari, a post graduate student and saw telescopes from early 18th

c.

and maps and globes from the 15th

c. The next day I took an early train to the XVth c. Fontalleto

Castle near Parma (of ham fame). The castle is surrounded by a moat, battlements and towers at

each corner, one of which houses camera obscuras. Inside a chamber with curved walls were two

apertures just above head height on opposite sides. In each was a meniscus prism which projected

an image of the square at the entrance to the castle on to a concave screen on a low lectern.

Reputedly used by the Contessa to screen visitors to the castle. A medieval CCTV!

On Saturday I took an exhausting climb through a covered devotional walk with 666 porticoes to

the Basilica San Luca - 3.5 km. Beautiful views at the summit and a service in progress (mass?). I

gave thanks that my body coped.Sunday 25th

- a fruitless trip to the Correr Museum in Venice by

train from Bologna. Two receptionists denied that the museum had camera obscura(s), but as I was

to find out later, it held Canelletos‟ in its collection. On Monday I took the shuttle bus to Venezia

Mestre station then a 15 min train ride to Padua (Padova).where I caught the mono rail tram to

Prato della Valle – the largest square/piazza in Europe, and eventually I found the Palazzo Angeli .

Here, in a pre-cinema exhibition was an exact replica of Canaletto‟s camera obscura owned by the

Correr Museum . Photographs forbidden. It was made of wood, approx. 14” square, reflex type,

producing a large image which would be useful for artists.

● The Hungarian Connection

Tuesday the 27th

May was a long but interesting day. I left Venice near 9 am and arrived at

Budapest after 10 pm. As the train passes into Austria from Italy the sun glints off the neat detached

houses clustered in the valley and the uplands never looked sunnier. It seems as if no space is left

untended below the tree line. The couple sharing the carriage with me are young, plump, talkative

and magnetically attracted – occupying 4 of the 6 seats available. I was treated to a charming

courtship performance throughout the journey. Arrival at Keital railway station was a bit fraught as

I had been warned by a fellow traveller that its environs could be dodgy. After a couple of false

starts I ended up in a taxi with two American ladies over for a wedding with a final cost of 5 Euros

- much better than the 50 Euros I‟d been touted for at one point!

The next day was my first big launch into deeper Eastern Europe with a 2 hour train trip to Eger.

Getting the times, platforms and changes right was challenging at times. Eger is lovely. I end up in

the Astronomical Observatory on the 9th

floor of the Astronomy tower in the Lyceum (a teacher

training college) where I find early telescopes, a meridian line with high aperture for the suns beam

and a camera obscura demonstrated by a student. The tower was designed by Maximum Hell SJ

(1720-1792) the Astronomer Royal who also designed the camera obscura. There have been several

modifications but the current optical spec is: lens Ф 15cm; focal length 280 cm; screen 125cm

diam. ; plane mirror 14 x 22cm. I was impressed by the successful integration of tourism, education,

and research, in a quite relaxed and uncrowded situation. Historically I discover that Hungarians

admire Eger which held out against a siege by the Russians in the 16th

c.

● Transylvannia - 8 hrs East of Budapest - neglect

On Thursday I took a trip to remember. After 8 hrs on the train from Budapest sharing a carriage

with Anna, - an engaging English speaking student of local government - I arrive in Alba Julia,

Romania. As the country rolled by the quality of the building fabric diminished. Workers in the

fields and pony carts became evident.

I immediately searched for the 18th

c. Bathyaneum Library where I know a camera obscura is

located. Many questions later I find it but the door is locked. In an adjacent building I find out from

Biliboc, a student, that permission from Bucharest is needed to enter the building. This is because

the library houses rare manuscripts and books such as the Codex Aureus (9th

c.) – known as the

Lorsch Gospel* – for which it is world famous. The next day I eventually gained access pass the fit

looking guard and the white coated

administrator through a combination of

French speaking , much waving of my

WCMT card which has a picture of

Churchill, and my refusal to take no for

an answer. Climbing the stairs through 7

or 8 spiral twists I reach the

Astronomical Observatory at the top of

the tower founded here originally in

1792.

The observatory was in a dilapidated

state with huge empty rooms sparsely

filled with neglected apparatus. On the

roof was the camera obscura -a

rectangular building with optics in the

apex of its lead covered roof. The guard

unlocked the door and I entered

cautiously, not sufficiently however as

my foot went through the rotting

wooden floor. I was not allowed to

operate the controls (guard over my

shoulder making negative noises) but

eventually managed to turn the control

arm to rotate the optics but with no effect.

It looked as if nothing had moved for

some time due to corrosion I assumed.

*http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Codex_Aureus_of_Lorsch&oldid=250923457

14 Camera Obscura at the Bathyaneum Library,

Alba Julia, Romania

● Back to civilisation – the Danube & the vineyards

After returning to Budapest, I set out for Vienna on a hot day on the 1st June. Picked up a hire car

from Eurocar effortlessly, but found the drive out of Vienna fraught as there was heavy traffic and

no holder for the Sat Nav. Nevertheless, headed to Langelois hoping to see a C. O. based on the

briefest of entries in Wikipedia (the internet encyclopaedia). The location is a very modern hotel

and wine house complex – the wines being stored at a constant temperature in an underground

tunnel system. Amazingly the camera obscura. was being dismantled that day and being replaced by

a web cam set-up. The original idea was to provide a view of the vineyard on a horizontal screen in

the cellar 5m below the vineyard using a camera obscura. However moisture had contaminated the

optics, resulting in a poor quality image. They then set about getting the original system working

for me to see and were successful but with an out of focus image. The people who helped were most

charming. I had personal guided tour around the labyrinthine tunnels by Michaela before continuing

on my journey to Spitz on the Danube.

Here was a completely different scene – a

camera obscura in use everyday on a cross-

Danube passenger/car ferry. Initial

impressions would not lead you to suspect

that there was a camera obscura on board –

but blow me there it was – two objectives

poking out above the ferries superstructure

- producing two superb views of each bank

in the cabin below, enabling the passengers

to watch one approaching whilst the other

receded as they crossed. Necessarily this

was a double system with mirrors to route

the image into the passenger cabin – one for

each wall. Passengers sit in darkness apart

from when the door opens. It was one of the

best images produced so far.

On Wed. 4th

June I arrived in Munich and

the next day took the train to Inglostadt .

Due to heavy rain we were stopped at

Pfaffenhofen as the track was flooded

beyond. Everybody got off and transferred

to a local coach which took a circuitous

route for the remainder of the trip. Arriving

late I made contact with my host Gerd via the tourist Office who were expecting me. Gerd came

with friends all members of the local Photo Club and we ascended 23m to the top of the

Rathausplatz (Town Hall) where Gerd did some minor assembling to make the camera obscura

operational, obtaining a good quality image on the screen.

In the room a hole has

been drilled into which a

steel tube has been fitted.

The steel tube serves as a

guide tube for the

revolving tower A. In the

tower an optical plane

mirror B is mounted. In

the middle of the tube is a

biconvex lens D of focal

length 2.5 m and diameter

250mm. At the lower end

of the tube is a circular

hand control E for rotation

of the camera obscura

tower by 360º. A lever is

also attached for adjustment of

the mirror by 20º up or down. A

projection screen for the image reflected by the mirror and focussed by the lens on a concave table

F with a white surface.

● Bern and the UEFA Cup

On Friday 6th

June caught the train from Munich to Bern via Zurich – all change and found myself

on the commuter train to Bern – was it crowded! - much struggling with luggage and seat location.

Arrive in Bern to find . . . it‟s the European Football

Cup and the place is buzzing with giant outdoor Tv

screens. Great help from the tourist information

office to locate hotel and next C.O.at Biel. Pre-

arranged visit to Museum Neuhaus, Biel on Sat.

outside of normal opening hours as the museum is

currently closed during reorganisation. A helpful

assistant Lisa showed me the circular 8 person room

with heavy curtains – pitch black but nothing

distinguishable on the horizontal circular screen.

Objective orientated horizontally on a grey day.

Also informed that the optics were in need of

cleaning. The camera obscura uses an 80 mm dia.

plastic lens with a 150 mm by 200 mm mirror

mounted in a copper housing. It was originally a

fish pavilion in front of the museum which was

converted when the museum was expanded and

renovated in 1995. One half of the pavilion sits over

the little river Schuss.

15 Ray Diagram for the Inglostadt Camera Obscura

16 Exterior of camera obscura at

Museum Neuhaus, Biel, Switzerland

● North through Germany - Frankfurt and Marburg

The sun was shining in Frankfurt so I went for a walk – very pleasant by the river with a well laid

out traffic -free boulevards and parks in between the skyscrapers. The Deutches Film museum is

near to the river and has a similar set up to the Neuhaus insofar as the final image is shown in an

internal, and curtained viewing room. However the image is inverted on an opposite wall, by

horizontal projection, with no mirror, but a high percentage of foliage visible in the final image. (the

image used to be vertical but this was thought to confuse visitors). I was surrounded by choice

portable examples of camera obscuras including a tent version shown below – all well presented.

The director Claudia Gillman couldn‟t do enough to help and we had a useful discussion about the

role of „Pre-Cinema‟ museums which seem to have the lion‟s share of camera obscuras. I was also

given access to the comprehensive library collection of books with excellent references. The setup

uses a 150mm dia. f15 achromatic lens.

17 Tent Camera Obscura at the Deutches Film Museum, Frankfurt c. 1825

Took the 9.22 from Frankfurt to Marburg –and discovered that the Physics department of Marburg

University was in the schloss (castle) together with the camera obscura. Two extremely helpful and

knowledgeable post graduate students Andrew and friend gave me a superb demo showing the

accurate focussing which used a threaded stem of an office chair and a range of effects obtainable

with curved and inclined screen surfaces. The image produced was simply the best I‟d seen - bright

and clear with just some distortion at the flat screen edge. The largely unrestricted view from the

castle gave superb views of surrounding countryside and a picture postcard image of the castle.

The installation was completed in 2002 on the occasion of the 475th

anniversary of the university.

The bright image is due to the comparatively large240mm dia. aperture which also allows night

time observation when the weather is good.

18 Image of ‘Landgraffenschloss’ as produced by the Physics Dept’s C.O at Marburg

University.

● East to Dresden and the Polish border

On Wed. 11th

June I took the 5hr + train trip from Frankfurt to Dresden. I was slightly apprehensive

about my reception as I had seen postcards showing the devastation of our carpet bombing in the

war. The fact that there were 35000 dead on the major raid sticks in my mind. On arrival it all looks

very spanking but still there were large areas cleared but unbuilt on near the station. The hotel is

pristine with superb modern décor and amenities in all areas. The floor to ceiling window in my

room on the 14th

floor looks out over the city giving dramatic views especially at night. I rang the

tourist office at Oybin and found an enthusiastic lady who then contacted Dr Siegfreid Ilgen who

then rang me later to confirm details of my visit. His English was not fluent and my German non-

existent!

Here we go again into the

unknown- well nearly –

Oybin is just 7 mls from the

Polish border in a

mountainous and rural area.

I change at Zittau to board a

steam loco for the final

push to the frontier. It‟s all

very atmospheric – I feel

I‟ve travelled back in time.

It‟s a regular part of the

service with a timetable to

link to the Dresden trains

with a waitress tea and

coffee . The carriage entry

system would give our

health and safety brigade

kittens.

I meet Dr Seigfreid who is extremely welcoming. He has spent many years as a teacher and is the

man responsible for the camera obscura which was originally built by a watchmaker named Weber

in 1852. The walk to the top of the mountain took about 1 ½ hrs with Dr Seigfreid stopping every 5

yds to continue his explanations – 85% in German and then a few words of English – all the time

the weather is worsening. Inside the camera obscura hut the image produced is large but not bright,

largely due to the 10/10 cloud. The screen is rectangular with curved, turned down edges – in fact

the roof from a Trabant car !

20 Camera Obscura chalet at Oybin

The camera obscura was renovated in 1886 and a new one built with the help of students of the

Engineering school at Gorlitz. It was finally reopened in 1983 and continues to operate. The modern

19 Steam loco -Zittau to Oybin, East Germany

21 Dr Seigried demonstrating the

focussing system

enclosure is about 3.5 m tall and has the optics projecting from the roof. The lens diameter is is

20cm with a focal length of 296 cm and an aperture of f=14.8. It can focus from 10m to infinity or

down to 1m with lens repositioning.

Friday June 13th

was another day deep in the ex – GDR - I take a 2 hr journey to Hainichen from

Dresden.. Its grey and raining, which seems to reinforce the inherent qualities of East Germany.

Arriving in Blanksville I ask a postman for directions to the Rathaus (Town hall). Entering and

introducing myself results in tel. calls and waiting but no conversation. Eventually the

Burgermeister (Dieter Greysinger) arrives, big, and Germanic, with his shopping in a plastic carrier

bag and speaking excellent English. In his office he tells me he would like to make the most of my

visit for publicity purposes. Leaving his office we cross the square to a deserted hotel left over from

the days of communism. Its got 50 beds a huge magnificent mock baroque hall that‟s laid empty for

11 years. The hotel is for sale - 4 million Euros (2 million available from the government). I then

get handed over to his RH/LH man and woman for a visit to the camera obscura.

The image on a horizontal screen is surprisingly bright on a comparatively dull day showing the

surrounding countryside and town. A simple but effective demonstration of image formation using a

hole in the door creates an inverted image, and helps explain the optics. The original building was

wooden built in 1883 and in 1908 repositioned on a brick tower. In 1985 it was reopened for the

800th

anniversary of the town in at the top of an 11 metre cylindrical tower. The screen is 80 cm

diameter.

22 Camera Obscura at Hainechen,

Germany

23 The Burgermeister of Hainechen,

Deiter Greysinger and author

● The suburbs of Paris – and Chevaliers meniscus prism

9 Euros buys me a reservation on the ICE ( Intercity Express) for Paris via Frankfurt. In Paris I visit

the Louvre en route encountering a mass roller skating event escorted by police. Monday 16th

I head

for the suburbs to the reserve collection of the Conservetoire Nationel des Arts et Metiers (CNAM)

. Quite an adventure during rush hour with a “perturbance” on the Metro, and tickets that did not

work which involve me vaulting over a turnstile.

At CNAM Dennis shows me a fascinating

collection of camera obscuras under tight

security. The collection included a standard

reflex model c.1750 and a collapsible version

both in poor condition. There were others by

Charles and an optical device by Abbe Nollet

who‟s function was unclear. Additionally Denis

found an original copy of a publication by

Charles on the Camera Obscura and the Camera

Lucida- with detailed diagrams showing me for

the first time the meniscus prism introduced by

Charles to reduce spherical aberration in Camera

Obscuras – fantastic. This resolves a puzzle to

me regarding the difference in focal length between a

meniscus prism I had had made with exactly the same radius of curvature as Chevaliers original.

It‟s due to the slight concave radius of curvature in addition to the obvious convex on the prism

surfaces . I had assumed a difference in the refractive index of the material used which needed

getting the prism reground by hand to achieve the same focal length as the original

I rounded off the visit with a tour of the whole storage

facility. It was huge and contained every conceivable

device that that could provide an historical X-section

of modern French life. From an early electric car , a

Wankle engined motorbike, and loads of early cinema

cameras and projecters. An eclectic and

comprehensive collection stored at various levels. It is

strange to see cars on platforms 3m high.

After meeting Sue at the Gare du Nord it was back to

the hotel for the night then off to Renne from Paris

Montparnasse on the 2.05pm next morning. We stayed

in Dinard and then visited Mont St. Michel for the

final Camera Obscura. This I found in the garden of a

private museum – a self operated system using lens

and mirror at the top of a hexagonal hut to produce an

image on ahorizontal screen approx 1.5 m dia. I

couldn‟t reconcile its location with those references I‟d

found on the internet. I went about a third of the way

21 Front page from Chevalier's treatise

on Camera Obscuras 1829

20 Extract showing both convex and

concave faces of a meniscus prism

around the island following footpaths but abandoned the search when I got stuck in mud, near a

beach.

22 Camera Obscura in a private museum, Mont St. Michel

Rather than finish this odyssey on a negative note ( in the mud), I would have say this has been a

most fulfilling and horizon expanding experience. Fulfilling because I was able to achieve the

objectives that were only a dream a year previously. Horizon expanding because it made me aware

of the extent of the subject area and fuelled my interest even further. I have embarked on another

reproduction camera obscura and intend to seek out others.

● Bibliography

The Camera Obscura a Chronicle by John H Hammond

Continental Camera Obscuras Past and Present issued by Foredown Tower, Portslade. UK