Carl Zeiss Asadul telescope from circa 1914 with tripod, timer and wooden box

Description

Carl Zeiss Asadul
telescope, tripod, timer and box
This Carl Zeiss ensemble comprises of a Carl Zeiss telescope with timer,
a very solid and original Carl Zeiss rising
tripod and an original Zeiss wooden box.
It also comes with copies of some original photographs, one of which shows the late 1930's President of France, Albert Le Brun, looking through the telescope during a grand public occasion.
There are also some pictures detailing the background of the telescope in the late 1930's.
The telescope is an Asadul model, manufactured by the Carl Zeiss company. A serial number on the objective lens is No3354, another on the timer is No 7681. I have not found a serial number on the telescope body.
The lens serial number indicates that the telescope was manufactured 9circa 1914.
It has a three ocular rotating turret with magnifications of 32x, 52x and 72x.
The objective is 110mm in diameter.
The ensemble weighs 67 kilos. The telescope weighs 15 kg,
the tripod weighs 31k and the box weighs 21kg.
The main tube of the telescope is 125mm in diameter, the hood is 150mm.
The steel stand can be raised to give an eye height of 1.8m with the telescope in the horizontal position.
It is fitted with a timer or "minuteuse" in French.
The timer is marked:
Carl Zeiss Jena
Importé d' Allemagne Nr 7681
Introduire dans la fente
un jeton ZEISS
which translated means:
Imported from Germany No 7681
Insert into the slot
a Zeiss token
The serial number 7681 on the timer is, I believe, for the timer
itself and not for the telescope.
The timer comes with 24 brass tokens marked "ZEISS-AUTOMAT".
On the reverse side is an image of a telecope.
The key to the timer is missing but the removable part is
unlocked so the money box can be slid off to recuperate used tokens.
However the timer has not been used in many years and the shutter is in the
open state, so at the moment viewing is possible at all times.
It might be wise not to insert tokens until the functioning of
the timer is properly understood.
If tokens are introduced, the telescope may revert back to
allowing a two minute viewing period.
The key to the wooden box is also missing.
The paintwork is not original. It has been re-painted a long time ago, by hand.
The varnish on the box does however look to me, to be original.
The telescope and tripod are entirely usable (apart
from the timer function).
All the functions work as they should, the three ocular lenses all operate as they should and are quite clean. There used to be a pair of sights for aiming the telescope, they were small metal projections around an inch tall, I believe, and are missing.
The objective lens is almost totally clean and so image quality is exceptional.
The timer assembly and mount are very slightly out of line with
the main tube of the telescope.
This means that the pupillary exit is not perfectly central in the ocular lenses.
The image is great but it might be even better if this was rectified.
In 1938 the telescope was owned by Mr. Robert Motte. Between 1923 and 1936 he lived at the
Col du Galibier in a stone building known as the blockhaus.
I have some large colour tourist images (not shown in this listing) which show this building at the Col du Galibier.
The blockhaus was taken over by the French army in 1936 and the Motte family were allowed to build a small chalet slightly higher up the col. The occupying german forces burnt down this small chalet as they retreated
back to Germany in 1944. It occupied the site of the existing, more substantial
chalet (also shown in the colour images) slightly above the blockhaus.
It is likely that the telescope was safely being stored in Briançon at the time of the retreat of the German forces.
So in all the tripod comes with family history going back to 1923 with some photographic history from 1938.
Mr Motte used to position the telescope outside the chalet and allow tourists and
customers to use it in exchange for a few centimes.
One of the photographs shows the then president of France, Albert Le Brun, looking through the telescope.
Robert Motte is behind the telescope, lining it up for the president.
They are looking at something on the Massif de Combeynot.
The president had occasion to visit the Col du Galibier in order to preside over a presentation of arms at
the end of some alpine training manoeuvres which had taken place in the area.
The occasion also marked the opening of the road between the Col du Lauteret and the Col du Galabier.
He can be seen in the second from last black and white photographs at the front a group of soldiers on a hillside.
He is located slightly to the right of the middle of the group, easily located by looking for his
hat which he holds in front of him.
There were around 10,000 soldiers present, mostly Tunisian.
The last black and white photograph shows the president Albert Le Brun walking in the hills accompanied by the "President du Conseil" of the defense ministry and 4 or more generals.
The germans didn't only cause the Motte family to lose their small chalet.
A firing squad also claimed the lives of some of the family members.
Twenty people were rounded up and shot as retribution for the killing of a german officer.
Among the dead was Alexandrine, the grandmother on the father's side and Henri and Paul Bonnabel.
The last two names can be seen on a plaque at the front of a small chapel at
the foot of the Col du Galibier where it meets the Col du Lauteret.
Please note, I cannot send this until the french lockdown situation has eased.
When it has please count on another week to 10 days before I can ship this to you.
Please do ask any questions upon which you'd like some clarification.
More photographs are available.
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If you buy this item, please send me your email address and cell phone number.
I need these before I can ship to you.
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Payment by wire to my bank.
On item like this I'd like to speak to any potential buyer to arrange payment.
I do not accept paypal on this item.
I do not accept credit card payments even though it shows that I do,
I think it's referring to paypal accepting credit cards.
I am not offering returns on this item.
it will be sent by a professional shipping company.
If it is damaged in transit an insurance claim will be filed.
This will be carefully and generously packaged, insured to it's full value,
sent signed for and tracked to your destination.
I will send you the tracking code and web link as soon as the item is on its way.
Packages are sent out within around 36 hours on weekdays or
on the Monday if the item sells on Saturday/Sunday.
Items are regularly being delivered to the States and Canada in 6 - 8 days.
I estimate delivery time to Europe to be 4-6 days.
If it does take a day or two longer (public holidays, etc), please bear with me.
You will of course be able to see your item's
delivery progress via code and the link I send you.
Please do ask any questions to help you in your decision to buy.
High resolution photos are available, simply request by Ebay message.
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Thank you for looking.
If you buy this item, please send me your email address and cell phone number.
I need these before I can ship to you.