Doppelfernrohr 8x60 BEH (Ernst Leitz), Kriegsmarine U-Boot Kommandant, 1939

Doppelfernrohr 8x60 produced by BEH (Ernst Leitz) in 1939, in very few examples, to be intended exclusively for commanders of submarines (U-boats) of the Kriegsmarine.

The binoculars, equipped with porro I prisms, have the Reichsadler (Imperial Eagle) imprinted on the right eyepiece plate with the initials “M” to indicate the production of Leitz binoculars verified and accepted by the German Navy. The number "1570" was, in all likelihood, the assignment number to a unit.

The "N" (Nordsee) indicated the assignment of the binoculars to a submarine commander stationed at a North Sea base.

On the left eyepiece plate there are: "8x60", "beh" (code name of the manufacturer Ernst Leitz), "T", in German "trasparenzbelag" to indicate the anti-reflection treatment present on the lenses (this system was developed and patented on 1 November 1935 by Aleksander Smakula, member of the Zeiss staff in Jena since 1934), the serial number 337022 and finally "KF" or "Kälte-Fett" which indicates the type of lubrication used for the internal mechanisms (eyepieces) , in this case, fat for the cold up to a temperature of -20°.

The Leitz company is a company operating in the optics sector. It was founded in 1869 by Ernst Leitz, known as Ernst Leitz I (1843-1920), as an 1849 successor to Carl Kellner's company, the Optical Institute, in Wetzlar.