Glimpses into the past: the mystery of the rangefinder by J.G. Hofmann

This work is aimed at studying the rangefinder by J.G. Hofmann preserved in the Deutsches Museum. Following the Winterthur model, the analysis will start by the study of the scientific device and its features. Some aspects of the life of J.G. Hofmann will be then reconstructed, and the details obtained will be used to provide a dating of the object and an explanation of its use. Finally, a possible scenario will be presented and discussed, outlining how the rangefinder likely came to Munich and, specifically, to the Deutsches Museum, as an attempt to reconstruct the life of the device.