Historical info

The History of our Institute

The human eye was already considered as a symbol of life in ancient Egypt. The Pharaohs believed that
the soul of someone who had died returned to it's body. Therefore, Egyptian priests attempted to replace
the eyes of the deceased that had been removed with eyes made from wax, plaster, or valuable stones.

Ambroise Pare, 1510 - 1590 [1], was the first person to describe artificial eyes in any detail. During his
lifetime painted and enamelled protheses made of gold, silver, and porcelain were common.

Around 1820 [2] , Hazard-Mirault reported that protheses made of glass were catching on. The white
coloured glass, dyed with lead oxide was extremely soft and quickly caused the protheses to become
rough, leading to subsequent irritation of the conjunctiva. Even so, these artificial eyes were very
desirable throughout Europe and cost the enormous sum of 20 Louis d'or.

Ludwig Müller-Uri succeeded with a major breakthrough; he knew how to use cryolite glass to make artificial eyes [3]. These new eye protheses were now corrosion-resistant and lightweight [4]. Countless honours were bestowed upon him including the "Centennial Commission Award" at the World Fair in Philadelphia in 1876. His company that was established in 1835 in Leipzig even opened a branch in Berlin before 1900.

Other artificial eye institutes, mostly brought into being by close relatives or one-time employees were also being established at this time. As they were not as mobile as we are today, it was common "to travel" to their clientele. Eye protheses technicians worked regularly in many of the major cities at home and abroad. Thereby, they provided their clientele with the possibility of acquiring a new artificial eye without this requiring too much expense or effort.

Around 1900 Werner, Otto and Ludwig Müller-Uri, the inventor's grandchildren started to work
regularly in Switzerland. During World War II this became impossible. As a result, Ludwig Müller-Uri
established himself in Berne in 1947, and moved to Lucerne a short while later. His nephew,
Dr. med. O. F. Martin became his successor in 1956. Dr.sc.nat. Otto E. and Karl L. Martin, fifth
generation family members, are still running their father's practice today under the name
"Schweizerisches Kunstaugen-Institut".

[1] Paré A. (1575), Les Oevres 23, Buon, Paris
[2] Hazard-Mirault (1818). Traité pratique de l'oeil artificiel, Duponcet, Paris
[3] Trester W., J Am Soc Ocularists, 25th Anniversary Issue (1982)
[4] Martin O., Clodius L., The history of the artificial eye. Annual of Plastic Surgery (1979) 3:168