BIC Museum of Microscopy – Beck Kassel CBS

Beck Kassel CBS

Founded in 1892, Beck Kassel CBS (Christoph Beck and Sons) were a family business based in Kassel, Germany, engaged in the production of optical instruments, primarily binoculars. Following wartime destruction of their premises in 1944, the company restarted production in 1948, this time concentrating on high-quality binoculars. Strangely enough, and for reasons unknown, in 1979 Beck branched out into the production of butane-fuelled narrow gauge (‘toy’) steam engines, running on 32mm gauge track. Perhaps this was a desperate attempt to develop new business in the face of mass-produced binoculars from the Far East. Either way, sometime in 1981 Christoph Beck and Sons went out of business. We have two microscopes made by Beck Kassel CBS. One is an unknown model (left photo below), another one is the model UF1 (right photo below).