Kaiserpanorama

The Kaiserpanorama was invented by August Fuhrmann around 1890. It functioned as a form of public entertainment in the period preceding cinema. The name Kaiserpanorama derived from the Kaisergalerie in Berlin, where the device was first exhibited.

A typical Kaiserpanorama installation comprised approximately 25 viewing stations, each equipped with a pair of lenses. Within the apparatus, a rotating mechanism sequentially presented a large number of stereoviews to the viewers.

By 1910, Fuhrmann is reported to have operated exhibitions in more than 250 locations across Europe and to have maintained a central archive containing up to 100,000 glass stereoview slides.