Baldix accessory viewfinder

[underlord]

I recently was gifted a Balda Mess Baldina. It came with a slide on yellow filter, lens hood and an accessory viewfinder.
My question is what would be the purpose of the extra viewfinder?
It is the collapsible type with framelines/parallax lines painted, which are reflected in the 'viewing area'. Seems odd for a fixed lens camera, would it just assist with framing?

 

[hanskerensky]

Besides from a help in framing it's of course also handy when you want to keep an eye on the surroundings which is more difficult with a encapseled viewfinder. These extra viewfinders were often used on press-cameras when working in a crowd.

 

[underlord]

thanks for that. It makes sense.