Hensoldt

In 1849, Moritz Carl Hensoldt (1821-1903) and his brother-in-law, Carl Kellner began a business fabricating telescopes using Kellner's eyepiece design. Around 1850, Hensoldt formed another company, "Moritz Hensoldt, " to make optical instruments. The workshop was in Sonneberg in Thuringia. In 1865, Moritz Hensoldt moved it to Wetzlar, Germany. (Kellner's Optical Institute went on to fame as the company of Ernst Leitz in Wetzlar.)

In 1896, Hensoldt's sons, Waldemar and Carl, joined the company as partners. Until 1904, the instruments were signed "M. Hensoldt & Söhne, Wetzlar." After this, it became better known as "Hensoldt, Wetzlar."

This family-owned business was best known for its roof prism binoculars (introduced in 1897), its "Dialyt" series of Abbe-Koenig in-line prism binoculars (1905), and its rifle scopes. The firm also manufactured fine telescopes, microscopes, photographic lenses, and other optical, medical, and astronomical instruments.

In 1928, Carl Zeiss Jena began to purchase shares of the company. By 1964, Zeiss owned all of Hensoldt.