what does the "DBP" and "GMBH" mean on my Leica M3?

[Hjortsberg]

"DBP" is right below "Leica" and the "GMBH" is next to "Ernst Leitz"

thanks

[Lauffray]

I know what GmBH is:
Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung (company with limited liability)
don't know for DBP

[rogerzilla]

Deutsches Bundespatent

(the earlier DRP was Deutsches Reichspatent and yes, that engraving style did last for almost 10 years after the Third Reich!)

[muser53]

DBP stands for Deutsches Bundespatent...Federal German Patent

[Matthew Runkel]

DBP = Deutsches Bundespatent (German federal patent)

GmbH = Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung (company with limited liability, equivalent to a corporation; used as "Inc." is in English)

[Hjortsberg]

thanks guys. now i know!

[rogerzilla]

Oh, and "M3"means Messersucher (measuring viewfinder) with 3 frames. Obviously this rule doesn't work for the M2 which also has three frames, but that was regarded as a budget model in the same vein as the Leica III and II.

[nikon_sam]

Originally Posted by Hjortsberg

thanks guys. now i know!

WHAT!!! That's it...you believe them...there's probably ten things that all those letters could stand for and you grab on to the first thing these bunch of characters post...HA!!!

[errorlogin]

Originally Posted by rogerzilla

Oh, and "M3"means Messersucher (measuring viewfinder) with 3 frames.

LOL!! You made my day!

Yes, it's supposed, that the M stands for "Meßsucher". But "Messersucher" would mean something like knife-finder. Or even better stands for somebody who is searching for a knife.....

[rogerzilla]

Hey, I only got a grade "C" at "O" Level German :-)

[Vince Lupo]

Not Leica-related, but how about VEB? As in VEB Pentacon?

[stonydeluxe]

Volkseigener Betrieb. Meaning a company that belongs to the people (as used in the GDR).

[yoyo22]

Originally Posted by Vince Lupo

Not Leica-related, but how about VEB? As in VEB Pentacon?

Volkseigener Betrieb - people owned enterprise

[Vince Lupo]

Thanks! Going a little far afield here, but I often wondered how Ihagee/Exakta remained a private company and didn't get absorbed into VEB Pentacon after the War? Is it because they were Dutch-owned?

[stonydeluxe]

Ihagee was part of the VEB Pentacon.

[Vince Lupo]

Yes, but I don't think that happened until about 1968 (sorry, guess I should have clarified in my last post!). I was wondering why they didn't become part of it much sooner, as other companies did.

[sevo]

Originally Posted by Vince Lupo

Yes, but I don't think that happened until about 1968 (sorry, guess I should have clarified in my last post!). I was wondering why they didn't become part of it much sooner, as other companies did.

Ihagee was Dutch-owned. The GDR did not nationalize foreign corporations for a long time - their main argument for seizing German corporations was their support for the Nazi regime and involvement in slave labour, and Ihagee (only restituted to the owners in 45) was a victim, if any...

[HuubL]

Ihagee (spelled out from the German pronounciation for IHG=Industrie und Handelsgesellschaft) was founded by the Dutch Johan Steenbergen, but he founded the company in Dresden, before the war. After the war Dresden became part of Eastern Germany...

read: http://www.ihagee.org/ihgshorthist.htm

[Vince Lupo]

Hmm.. very interesting. Great cameras, and I was fortunate to have visited Dresden a few years ago and brought my Exakta II. Would love to go back!