Help deciphering handwriting in baseplate

[Giuliobigazzi]

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Hello everyone, I have a Leica with this name written in the baseplate which I’m trying to decipher. I see a few things in this but nothing concrete, especially the last part. I’ve inverted the photo to make it easier to see.  I assume it’s German..any thoughts?

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[UliWer]

I read „Hans Heuburger senior“. The writing for the last part is „senj“ which I interpret as „senior“.

Edited December 26, 2023 by UliWer

[Giuliobigazzi]

You could well be right with Heuburger, I keep seeing different things too, Heinburger, Heinberger, Heirburger,Heirberger.. also Herr and Hans.

is senj. old german? 

[UliWer]

vor 3 Stunden schrieb Giuliobigazzi:

Heuburger, I keep seeing different things too, Heinburger, Heinberger, Heirburger,Heirberger..

There is a dot or short dash above the letter in front of the "b", therefore I read it as an "u". Since there is no dash above the letter following the "b" I now think it is no "u", but an "e": "Heuberger" (which perhaps is also more frequent as a name than "Heuburger").  "Herr" ("Mr") would be unusual for a signature of one's own camera which I believe it is and the writer's "e" is different. Usually the abbreviation for "senior" is "sen." or perhaps "sr." though I don't find anything other which might makes sense.

[Giuliobigazzi]

The location of the dot on the j is somewhat more forward, could be a trait of the writer’s handwriting placing the dot forward in the same way on an ‘i’? Thats why I was thinking Heinburger or Heinberger. The Herr theory makes sense 

[UliWer]

Yes, one can guess a dot on an "i", though I don't find an "n" behind it. Yo might read "Heriberger" but that would be a very unusual name (though not impossible). 

[roydonian]

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Could the last few letters be an abbreviation for Diplom-Ingenieur?

[UliWer]

I don't think so, that would be "Dipl. Ing". Even just "Ing" wouldn't work as I read it. 

[Giuliobigazzi]

29 minutes ago, UliWer said:

Yes, one can guess a dot on an "i", though I don't find an "n" behind it. Yo might read "Heriberger" but that would be a very unusual name (though not impossible). 

What I meant was that the i could be after the He.. with the dot being placed further forward,just like on the j.  Looking like it’s on the next letter 

[pop]

I think the beginning is more likely to be 'Herr' than 'Hans'. There is nothing that I can see as an 's'.

If a clerk wrote the name onto the baseplate rather than the owner, writing 'Herr' (Mr.) would be quite plausible. But then, in earlier years people even put 'Herr' in front of their own names when noting their addresses for others, such as on a self-addressed envelope.

The name could be read as 'Haiberger'. There is a place in Austria by that name, and it seems to be used as a surname as well.

The 's enj' is a bit of a puzzle. The distance between the initial 's' and the 'enj' is too large for it to be one word or term. There is no way of spelling 'senior' with a 'j', but foreign words were quite frequently missspelled by clerks, and 'senior' was regarded as a latin word for a long time.

[Marc B-C]

We are assuming a German, however, it could be an Englishman with a German name, who was a senior engineer (s. eng) and this was used for business?

It could also be:  H?? Henri ?? ?yan s. eng  

[Pyrogallol]

The style of the script doesn’t look as if it would have been written by a native English speaker/writer.

[Giuliobigazzi]

Looking again at the first part of this script, I noticed there is a partly smudged horizontal strike, so first letter could actually be a capital A.  
the second letter then maybe an R or U. 

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[Giuliobigazzi]

Someone pointed out to me that if the letters in yellow are ‘e’ then the letter in red must be an ‘a’. 
..reading Haiberger.

still no idea on the last part 

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[AndreasG]

I, as a native German would read as Herr Heuberger or Herr Heinberger, the third part is difficult read. Could be an abbreviated senior, but then there should be an i and not a j

[80_20]

For me (also native German) it reads: Hans Heuberger senj. 
 

senj. is the abbreviation for senior (normally written sen. - but rarely also with i or j), which is used, when two members of the family (father/son or grandfather/son) have the same first name - for this reason it makes no sense to write Herr Heuberger senj., as the whole phrase would not work as discriminator. 

Many (elder) people use a dash above u in handwriting, what has not to be read as i - therefore Heuberger is more likely than Heiberger. 

[pop]

I'm in favor of "Herr Haiberger s enj". Wikipedia even holds an entry for one Leopold Haiberger . I have no idea what the last part means. However, priests of one catholic order suffixed their names with S.J., showing them to be Jesuits.