Compass CXN, loose Standard German military march compass (Marschkompass Busch) of the sort carried by officers, senior NCOs and engineers in the Wehrmacht during World War II. [This item is POSSIBLY a WW II German Military Compass]. Manufacturer: CXN 1-5 scale (5 cm, metric system) on the side. The lettering on it is "CXN" on the front, and a combination of letters on the back (900,83a) and (boa) in two circular markings. The CXN manufacturer code stands for: Emil Busch AG, Optische Industrie, Rathenow. That is the actual specific manufacturer for this item. It is about 2 inches wide x 2-3/4 inches long and the lid opens to reveal a bright reflective surface and the rotatable dial of the compass. Along the left edge is a scale from 0 to 5 centimeters marked in millimeters. It has a half needle and is made of bakelite. "Emil Busch AG Optische Industrie" is a former German company located in Rathenow (north-west of Berlin).The BUSCH compasses were only manufactured during a limited period in this large company that mainly produced optical instruments. This company had been founded around 1800 by a preacher called Johann Heinrich August DUNCKER to make spectacles glasses. He transmitted the company in 1824 to his son Eduard DUNCKER. The latter having no children, he gave to his nephew Emil BUSCH in 1845 the company that was called in the meantime "Optische Industrie-Anstalt, Rathenow". E. BUSCH had joined the company five years before after having studied optics and commerce. He sold the company on October 22, 1872 to a limited company. It was then renamed "Rathenower Optische Industrieanstalt (former Emil Busch) AG" and he became one of the directors. The name changed again on August 14, 1908 and was then "Emil Busch AG Optische Industrie". During WW II, the company's code name was cxn. After WW II, Busch did not built any more compasses. The factory was situated in the Soviet Occupation Zone and was renamed from 1946 onwards as "Rathenower Optische Werke GmbH" and from 1948 on "VEB Rathenower Optische Werke (ROW)" It later became part of the company "VEB Carl Zeiss Jena" in the former East Germany.