Monday, August 19, 2013

German 80mm Photophone - Carl Zeiss Lichtsprechgerät

One interesting communications device used by the German Armed forces during WWII was the photophone. This was a device that used light waves to transmit speech over long distances.

The photophone models built by the Germans were constructed by the well known Carl Zeiss company. One of these, the 80mm model, was captured by Allied forces in North Africa and it was evaluated by scientific personnel.

The report they produced is called ‘The 80mm German Photophone’ and can be found at the US National Archives and Records Administration.
The file can be downloaded from my Scribd and Google docs accounts.


Additional information on the photophone is available from site and wehrmacht-awards.


  1. Hi, any news of the 2 photophones 250/130 captured by the US army at the end of the WW2?
    Best regards.

    1. I don’t have those files

    2. I Found a little about it