A miniaturized electrostatic electron optical column, consisting of thin commercial electron-microscope apertures as electrodes [Burstert, Winkler, and Lischke, Microelectron Eng. 31., 95 (1996)] has been successfully constructed and evaluated. An electron probe with a current of 300 nA and a spot size of 0.6 mu m is achieved at 3 keV. The system is operated with beam energies as low as 300 eV, yielding 600 nA in a 2 mu m spot size. Long term stability and reproducibility are achieved over operation times of several months. This demonstrates that the column is suitable for testing purposes where a high signal-to-noise ratio is required.