Leica Geosystems
 |
|
| part of the Hexagon AB | |
| Industry |
Surveying & Engineering Geographic Information Systems (GIS) High Precision Measurement instruments |
| Founded | Heerbrugg, Switzerland (1921) |
| Headquarters | Heerbrugg, Canton St. Gallen, Switzerland |
|
Number of employees
|
> 3,500 |
| Website | www.leica-geosystems.com |
Leica Geosystems (formerly known as Wild Heerbrugg or just Wild) based in eastern Switzerland produces products and systems for surveying and geographical measurement (geomatics). Its products employ a variety of technologies including GPS satellite navigation and laser rangefinders to enable users to model existing structures, terrains in computer based systems to high accuracies, often under 1 cm.
The brand Leica, better known for its high qualitycameras, was formed on 2 April 1990 after the merger of several companies. In 2005, the company was acquired by Hexagon AB. Leica was listed on the Swiss stock exchange until the 7 August 2006 which saw the cancellation of all publicly held registered shares in Leica Geosystems Holdings Ltd and delisting of all listed registered shares of a par value of CHF 50.
Leica Geosystems Geospatial Imaging is a Strategic Member in the Open Geospatial Consortium since 2008. Strategic Membership is the highest level of membership in the OGC. Strategic Members provide significant resources to support OGC objectives in the form of funding for program initiatives and staff resources inserted into the OGC process.
Heinrich Wild (1877–1951) of Glarus, Switzerland, a leading designer of geodetic and astronomical instruments, began his career as an apprentice surveyor. In 1908, having invented a military rangefinder and convinced Zeiss to manufacture it, Wild moved to the city of Jena and became head of the new Zeiss branch responsible for surveying instruments, GEO.
Wild returned to Switzerland after the First World War. In April 1921, with Colonel Jacob Schmidheiny of Balgach and geologist Dr. Robert Helbling of Flums and with the help of Swiss financiers, he founded the Heinrich Wild, Werkstätte für Feinmechanik und Optik in Heerbrugg in the Alpine Rhine Valley. In the early 1930s, having recognized that he was not cut out to be a factory manager, Wild moved to Zurich, severed his connections with the firm in Heerbrugg, and designed instruments for Kern & Co in Aarau. His old firm became Wild Heerbrugg in 1937.
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