Kaiserpanorama

A drawing of a Kaiserpanorama with 25 viewing stations.

The Kaiserpanorama (or Kaiser-Panorama) is a form of stereoscopic entertainment medium used chiefly in the 19th and early 20th centuries, and is considered a precursor to film. It was invented by August Fuhrmann (1844–1925), and patented by him in c.1890. It consisted of a number of viewing stations from which people would peer through a pair of lenses to view a number of rotating stereoscopic glass slides. By 1910 Fuhrmann is said to have controlled exhibitions in over 250 branches across Europe, and to have held up to 100,000 slides in his central archive.