Doppelfernrohr Srb&Stys 6½x50 Kriegsmarine, Nordsee, about 1939
Doppelfernrohr 6½x50, produced by Srb & Stys - Fabrik Praziser Messinstrumente - Prague (Czech), and destined to Kriegsmarine starting from around 1939.
On the left eyepiece, in fact, the specific information necessary to identify the 6½x50 magnifications and the serial number below are shown, while on the right eyepiece, in addition to the Kriegsmarine acceptance mark "Aquila + M", there is the "N" Nordsee, followed by some numbers, which identify as assigned to a North Sea Fleet.
What differentiates this binoculars from the other more common is the absence of the central bar.
Although it is completely built in lightweight aluminum for better handling, the manufacturer decided to further reduce the weight by avoiding inserting the central bar, thus finding a solid and reliable system in the same way.
The fact is that despite its use the view is perfectly clear and collimated and all the mechanisms work perfectly.
The company was founded by Jaroslav Srb (1892 - 1967) who began his studies in the optical field at the Technical University of Prague.
During the First World War he worked at Zeiss where he met the optical mechanic Josef Stys (1899-1850) who became a partner and was a designer and optician of their company which they later called Srb & Stys.
The company, founded on 11/21/1919, had, among its first projects, the repair of microscopes and the production of micro lamps. Srb&Stys was based in Kavalirka, at the XVII of Kosire. Just a few months after their opening they dedicated themselves to the production of optical equipment for Geodesy, Astronomy and Meteorology.
In 1921, the Czechoslovakian Department of Defense commissioned Srb&Stys to supply theodolites. For the Ministry of Education they produced microscopes which mounted Zeiss optics.
In 1924 they created their own laboratory dedicated to the process of "polishing" lenses. In 1937 the company moved to a large building in front of their now old factory. They had 300 workers who were employed in grinding lenses.
Srb&Stys supplied telescopes and binoculars to the Turkish Army, telescopes to the Yugoslav Army and surveying instruments to Greece. Jaroslav Srb and Josef Stys founded "Romanian Czechoslovakian Optics" as a subsidiary of their Prague-based Srb&Stys, Romania.
In 1937 the company had 860 workers and was at its peak development and was thinking of expanding its production by opening a new factory in England. In 1939, with the outbreak of the Second World War and the occupation of Czechoslovakia by the Germans, Srb&Stys saw its almost unstoppable development abruptly interrupted. During World War II the company was under full German control and fully complied with the requested supplies.
In 1940 Jaroslav Srb was arrested for sabotage and was later released due to lack of evidence but was strictly forbidden to enter his factory.
In 1945 Jaroslav Srb and Josef Stys decided to abandon the production of military optical equipment to dedicate themselves exclusively to the production of binoculars, microscopes and theodolites for the civilian market.
In May 1945 "The Revolutionary Works Council" attacked Srb&Stys by placing it under commissionership and making it available "to the people". The company had more than 500 employees and was placed under state control and was renamed "Meopta".
During the communist revolution in February 1949, Stys was unreasonably arrested and died shortly after his release in 1950.
In 1963, in a drastic reorganization, the company was renamed ZPA Kosire and production concentrated on making electromechanical devices, tape memories, power supplies and optical measuring devices for CNC machines. In 1996, bankruptcy was declared.