Lot 71

E. Zimmermann in Leipzig

Hipp-Schulze Chronoscope

A rare electromechanical 1/1000 seconds chronoscope

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Chronoscopes are electromechanical precision clocks, which are capable of measuring time in the millisecond scope. The chronoscope was invented circa 1848 by Matthäus Hipp in Reutlingen. The chronoscope was used very successfully in all scientific fields, despite the complexity of calibrating the instrument. In the 1890s the Hipp chronoscope became the standard measuring tool for short time measurement of time in experimental psychology.
Psychologist Rudolf Schulze in Leipzig updated Matthäus Hipps chronoscope and simplified the hitherto cumbersome operation of the tool considerably. The invention was patented in March 1908 py patent no. D.R.P. 209151. The only maker of this improved chronoscope was the E. Zimmermann company in Leipzig, who had been specialising in the production of instruments used for scientific purposes and in the field of psychology for many years. Old company catalogues listed the instrument from 1912 on as article no. 1263.
Today we know of 203 Hipp chronoscopes but only 13 of them are of the Hipp-Schulze type and are part of collections owned by psychological institutions or museums.
Literature
Schulze, Rudolf: Chronoskop nach Hipp, DRP 209 151 of 1909
Schulze, Rudolf: Aus der Werkstatt der experimentellen Psychologie und Pädagogik, Leipzig (1909) pp. 274-279
Zimmermann, E.: Sammelliste über Apparate für psychotechnische Institute, Prüfstellen. Auszug aus Liste 50, Berlin/Leipzig 1929
Schraven, Thomas.: The Hipp Chronoscope, The Virtual Laboratory (ISSN 1866-4784), http://vlp.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/references?id=enc13, and now as revised edition in German in Chronohype 16 and 17.
The text is courtesy of Dr. Thomas Schraven, expert in short-term measurements.