Wild Heerbrugg
| WILD HEERBRUGG AG
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| legal form | Corporation |
| founding | April 26, 1921 |
| resolution | 1990 |
| Reason for dissolution | Merger to Leica Plc. |
| Seat | Heerbrugg |
| management | Board presidents: Jacob Schmidheiny (1923–1954) Max Schmidheiny (1954–1983) Thomas Schmidheiny (1983–1989) Stephan Schmidheiny (from 1989) |
| Branch | Optics , electronics , precision mechanics , surveying technology |
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The company Wild Heerbrugg AG was founded on April 26, 1921 as Heinrich Wild, workshop for precision mechanics and optics by Heinrich Wild , Jacob Schmidheiny and Robert Helbling in the Heerbrugg district of the municipality of Balgach in the canton of St. Gallen . From 1921 to 1990 it was a leading manufacturer of optical measurement instruments, laboratory and stereo microscopes , drawing tools and instruments for photogrammetry .
history
Over the years the company changed its name from Heinrich Wild, workshop for precision mechanics and optics, via sales corporation Heinrich Wild's Geodetic Instruments to Wild Heerbrugg AG . In 1986 there was a merger with Ernst Leitz Wetzlar GmbH to form the Wild Leitz Group. With the establishment of Leica Holding BV in 1990, the name Wild disappeared. After Leica Camera was spun off in 1996, the remaining group split in 1997 into Leica Geosystems AG and Leica Microsystems . The WILD word / figurative mark still lives on in WILD GmbH. After the takeover by Liaunig Industrie Holding, the WILD Group with 380 employees and an annual turnover of 80 million was formed from the former Austrian WILD production site in Völkermarkt .
Origins
On April 26, 1921, the Heinrich Wild company, workshop for precision mechanics and optics in Heerbrugg, was founded by three Swiss personalities. The surveyor and inventor Heinrich Wild from Glarus , the officer and entrepreneur Jacob Schmidheiny from Balgach and the geologist Robert Helbling from Flums . The name Optikhus for the canteen, on the area still known as the game area, is a reminder of the origins in optics.
The focus was initially on the construction of optical-mechanical measuring instruments , among which the theodolites soon enjoyed a special reputation thanks to various patents from Heinrich Wild (in particular the types T1 and T2). In 1923 the company name was changed to sales corporation Heinrich Wild's Geodetic Instruments . Instruments for photogrammetry (e.g. a stereo autograph from 1925 ) were also produced later , the reduction distance meter RDH and the Wild T4 , a special instrument for astro-geodetic measurements.
“The Wild theodolite has so far been in the Federal Office for Metrology and Surveying for triangulation work III. and IV. order has been in use during two field periods and has given excellent measurement results. He also endured the not always gentle transport in the high mountains without being damaged. A small, very powerful leveling instrument of its own type and also a phototheodolite, the angle measuring device of which is built in the manner of the universal theodolite, also came from the same workshop. The same company also exhibited fine rulers scratched on glass so that measurements on plans could be measured directly without the aid of a pair of compasses. "
In the course of further innovations, conflicts arose, so that Heinrich Wild left the company in 1932. From 1937 he brought his inventive spirit and several patents to the company Kern & Co in Aarau , which grew into a serious competitor of the Heerbrugg company.
The original company was transformed into Wild Heerbrugg AG in 1954 . The theodolite series, which was still developed by Wild, proved so successful that the names T1 to T3 were retained for newer designs until around 1980. From 1972 onwards, Wild Heerbrugg AG and Ernst Leitz Wetzlar GmbH cooperated .
Further development
In 1987 the companies Wild and Leitz merged to form the Wild Leitz Group . On May 13, 1988, the Aargau-based company Kern & Co. AG mentioned above was taken over and Wild Leitz AG was founded on January 1, 1989 . On August 16, 1989, other companies such as Cambridge Instruments , Reichert & Jung and parts of Bausch & Lomb were added. In 1990 the Leica Holding BV Group was founded with the inclusion of the well-known camera manufacturer. entered the GPS market.
In 1996 Leica Camera AG was spun off, in 1997 it was split into Leica Geosystems and Leica Microsystems . Today, several legally independent companies have emerged from this. In continuation of Wild-Heerbrugg , Leica Geosystems (since 2005 as part of the Swedish company Hexagon AB ) produce geodetic instruments, Leica Microsystems (since 2005 part of the US company Danaher Corporation ) produce microscopic devices, Vectronix (since 2003 as part of the French company Sagem , then Safran ) military products and SwissOptic AG (as part of the Berliner Glas Group) optical components. An overview shows the breadth and market positions of the business areas that have emerged. Thus, all significant parts of the business of the Swiss Schmidheiny family have been sold to foreign owners.
Active WILD group
The Austrian WILD production site, which was separated from the Leica Group in 1995, became the basis of the WILD Group. Under the WILD logo, the Wild Group continues to deal with “optomechatronics”. The company's purpose is the contract manufacturing and development of precision optics, fine mechanics and electronics for medical technology and technical optics.
WILD Group companies:
- Wild GmbH
- Photonic Optical Devices GmbH & Co KG
- WILD Elektronik u. Kunststoff GmbH & Co KG
- WILD Technologies sro
Web links
- Literature by and about Wild Heerbrugg in the bibliographic database WorldCat
- Virtual archive from Wild Heerbrugg AG
- WILD group
Individual evidence
- ↑ From Wild to Leica 70 years of company history 1921-1991. (PDF) Rudolf Simmen, accessed on July 24, 2020 .
- ↑ Fritz Staudacher: Spanned - From the formation and destruction of the Leica Group to Hexagon . In: Franz Betschon et al. (Ed.): Engineers build Switzerland - the history of technology at first hand , pp. 291–300, Verlag Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Zurich 2013, ISBN 978-3-03823-791-4
- ^ Website of the company Leica Geosystems accessed on July 16, 2009
- ↑ Karl Gürtler: The measurement from the airplane in the service of technology and economy. : Journal of the oesterr (eichischen) / Austrian engineering and architects association (e) s , year 1926, p. 339 (online at ANNO ).
- ^ Johann Rohrer: Newer geodetic instruments. : Austrian construction magazine. Organ of the specialist groups for construction of the Austrian Association of Engineers and Architects as well as the Austrian Concrete Association, the Austrian Water Management Association and the Municipal Testing and Research Institute for Construction Vienna , born in 1950, p. 43 (online at ANNO ).
- ↑ The exhibition for optics and precision mechanics. In: (Austrian) Journal for Surveying. Organ of the Association of Austrian Imperial and Royal Surveyors / Austrian Journal for Surveying. Organ of the Austrian Geometerverein / Österreichische Zeitschrift für Vermessungswesen. Organ of the Austrian Association for Surveying / Austrian Journal for Surveying. Published by the Austrian Association for Surveying , December 1, 1926, pp. 103f. (Online at ANNO ).
- ↑ Ulrich Müller: Bringing Light into Darkness - From the Optical Telemeter to the Laser Distance Meter . In: Franz Betschon et al. (Ed.): Engineers build Switzerland - the history of technology at first hand , pp. 331–338, Verlag Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Zurich 2013, ISBN 978-3-03823-791-4
- ↑ Fritz Staudacher: Focused - Optical instruments recognize, document and measure reality . In: Franz Betschon et al. (Ed.): Engineers build Switzerland - the history of technology at first hand , pp. 284–290, Verlag Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Zurich 2013, ISBN 978-3-03823-791-4