NewsVIAOPTIC Stories

As part of the official opening of the new VIAOPTIC GmbH building in the Leitz-Park Wetzlar, the Sparkasse Wetzlar presented a donation of 1,000 euros to the Wetzlar Community Foundation. This donation is intended to support the valuable work of the foundation for the common good of the people in Wetzlar and to show the solidarity of the Sparkasse Wetzlar and VIAOPTIC with the region.

“As a company firmly rooted in Central Hessen, we want to make a positive contribution and support the important work of the community foundation,” said Bernhard Willnauer at the presentation of the check. ”We are particularly pleased that the savings bank provided the donation and that we had the opportunity to determine that this money would benefit the community foundation, which supports valuable projects in our region.”

The aim of the community foundation is to give as many citizens as possible, as well as institutions and commercial enterprises, the opportunity to make their specific contributions to the common good in their region through ideas, time and money.

September 1 marked the start of a new training year when three young people began their training with VIAOPTIC! We look forward to accompanying them on their journey and mastering exciting challenges together. Together with their fellow apprentices from the second and third year of apprenticeship, they will learn the professions of plastics technologist, toolmaker and industrial clerk.

Eight young trainees are now part of the VIAOPTIC team, and we are looking forward to supporting their development and achieving great things together!

Our trainers Thorsten Graubner and Peter Laser have developed an introductory day for all trainees. A joint meal, solving dexterity tasks and a company rally helped the new and experienced trainees and trainers to get to know each other better and allowed everyone to start their training with joy.

We are very happy to have them join our team and wish the three of them a good and successful start to their training and an exciting training period!

📢 Review of the open day at Viaoptic as part of the Leitz-Park Fest 2024 🎉

More than 10,000 visitors attended the Leitz Park Festival in Wetzlar last weekend in bright sunshine - a complete success for the organizers!

In addition to numerous hands-on activities, the guests also had the opportunity to take a look behind the scenes at VIAOPTIC: Many took the opportunity to visit our open production for polymer optics. There was also plenty of useful information for those interested in training or VIAOPTIC job offers.

A special highlight, apart from the plastic optics, was the exhibition of two vintage cars from the Loh Collection of the National Automobile Museum in our warehouse, which is currently still empty. This photo point was also very popular!

Many thanks to everyone who attended the open day - we are already looking forward to the next festival in 2026!

Photocredit: Daniel Klatt

On Saturday, September 7, - Leitz-Park Fest 2024 will take place. The campus will be transformed into a paradise for all lovers of optics and photography from 10 am.

VIAOPTIC will also be opening its doors from 10 am to 4 pm. Our departments have developed an exciting tour. You will gain an insight into our products and end applications, vapor deposition, injection molding, automation, toolmaking and warehouse logistics.

Another special highlight awaits visitors to the festival in our old warehouse:
The National Car Museum “The Loh Collection” will present itself there as a photo point until 4 pm with two special vehicles from the collection.

We look forward to seeing you!

We are incredibly proud of our sporty colleagues who took part in the Brückenlauf in Wetzlar last Friday!

The social aspect also plays an important role at the largest popular running event in Central Hessen for schools, clubs, companies, authorities and businesses: the entry fees from companies, authorities and businesses will benefit the Sportkreis Lahn-Dill e. V. for the “Movement landscape and pump track” project in 2024.

Together with 9 runners from our Sales, Project Management, Controlling, Human Resources, Plastics Competence Center and Management departments, we proved that we not only work hard in the production of our optical components, but also impress with our stamina and commitment on the running track.

Congratulations to all the runners - you did a great job!

The Aachen Polymer Optics Days will take place this year from June 19 - 20 and are an important meeting place for specialists and experts from the polymer optics industry.

Meet our sales team

Two experienced colleagues from the VIAOPTIC sales team will be in Aachen to present our pioneering solutions in optical coatings and plastic injection molding to the congress participants. Let us show you first-hand how our technologies exceed your requirements and the unique advantages they offer.

Network and exchange

In addition to presenting our products and services, we look forward to inspiring conversations and making valuable new contacts. The Aachen Polymer Optic Days are the perfect opportunity to exchange ideas with industry colleagues and discover new perspectives together.

🎉 We are delighted to celebrate the opening of our new building "Am Leitz-Park" in Wetzlar! 🎉

Over 1,200 visitors enjoyed the sold-out concerts by the Chorona choir at Leitz-Park Wetzlar last weekend. The event kicked off with an exclusive concert on Friday evening under the motto "Let's celebrate", which was organized especially for our employees and invited guests from VIAOPTIC. Chorona and VIAOPTIC share a common history: both were founded 20 years ago - the choir with 25 members and the company with 25 employees. Today, VIAOPTIC has almost 160 employees and Chorona has over 70 active singers.

One highlight was the symbolic handover of the keys to our new 3,400 m² extension by Maximilian Kaufmann to Bernhard Willnauer. The new area comprises 1,500 m² of storage space, 800 m² of high-tech injection mold construction, 400 m² of office space, 400 m² of social space and 150 m² each for assembly and building services.

Chorona's varied program included a cross-section of their repertoire from recent years, from Misty Mountains to Kruhay, an African song, Perfekte Welle by Juli and Earth Song by Michael Jackson, to name but a few. The extraordinary voices of Anna Spengler and Annika Wahlers were particularly impressive with their performance of "Empire State of Mind", which is representative of all the soloists on this evening.

Many thanks to everyone who made this event unforgettable.

The international trade fair for optical technologies, components, systems and production for the future was a complete success for VIAOPTIC!

The response from visitors to the stand was overwhelming: Sebastian Godderidge and his sales team were able to make numerous contacts and convince visitors of the numerous possible applications for injection-molded optical components.

VIAOPTIC is not one of the leading suppliers in the field of polymer optics for nothing:
Our team often dares to tackle dimensions and tolerances that seem impossible for others, and manufactures lenses and components to the highest quality according to customer-specific requirements.

Our trade fair year 2024 will soon be coming to a close with the Aachen Polymer Optics Days. We will then start planning the 2025 trade fair full of enthusiasm.

At the beginning of February, we welcomed 26 students, doctoral candidates and employees from the Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology at the Technical University of Darmstadt to Leitz Park Wetzlar. Colleagues from Viaoptic GmbH and Leica Camera AG joined forces to organise an exciting excursion into the world of light. The department offers lectures on the subject of lighting technology, so it made sense to get to know companies that deal with the recognition, control, conversion and processing of light signals in the broadest sense.

The visitors started with a tour of VIAOPTIC before moving on to Leica Camera. A tour also took place here, during which the visitors were able to get to know the company and its history. The tours were supplemented by discussion rounds organised by the supervising colleagues. In addition to the presentation of Viaoptic and Leica Camera as potential employers, the employment opportunities and tasks of lighting technology specialists and the entry opportunities after graduation, the question of what future graduates expect from a potential employer and what we can offer at the Leitz-Park campus to be of interest to graduates beyond the region was also discussed.

...We have a lot to offer, was the unanimous conclusion of the STEM talents from Darmstadt. The excursion was rounded off with lunch together at the Leica Casino and a visit to the Ernst Leitz Museum, including a guided tour at the end of the day.

The organisers at Viaoptic and Leica Camera were delighted with the keen interest shown by the future lighting technology specialists.

Many thanks to all colleagues who supported the event!

Just a quarter of all employees remain loyal to a company throughout their entire working life. It is therefore extraordinary when an employee goes into well-deserved retirement after almost fifty years at the company where they started their training.

After more than 50 years with the company, this week we bid Volkmar Groß and all our employees farewell on his retirement. For him, a time full of freedom, enjoyment and new opportunities is now beginning.

CEO Bernhard Willnauer thanked Volkmar Groß for his exceptional loyalty and valuable work at a small celebration and with a gift. He has enriched the VIAOPTIC company for many years. The staff had also collected a joint gift and presented it together with many good wishes for the new phase of his life.

One sentence in particular characterised Volkmar Groß and he will always be fondly remembered:
"I didn't dream of the company's success, I worked for it!"