GEOSYSTEMS DIVISION EXPLORE SUMMARY 200 Years of Surveying History Meet the pioneers and visionaries that have shaped the history of surveying The origins of Leica Geosystems date back 200 years, with the founding of Kern & Co. in 1819. A little over 100 years later, in a small empty textile mill in Heerbrugg, Heinrich Wild developed the T2, the world's first truly portable opto-mechanical theodolite, and therewith, building the foundation of modern surveying. A few years later, the fledgling start-up company, WILD Heerbrugg, introduced the world's first aerial camera, the C2, along with the B2, the world's first analogue photogrammetric plotter. Over the last two centuries, our company, in its various forms, has grown by becoming the world's first in surveying innovation. A thirst for innovation, combined with a keen sense of entrepreneurship and an unwavering dedication to quality, has kept Heinrich Wild's and Jakob Kern’s visions alive throughout the decades. 2021 "Heinrich Wild, Werkstätte für Feinmechanik und Optik" was founded in Heerbrugg 100 years ago. Within a century, the company evolved into Leica Geosystems and is now part of the global Hexagon Group. These companies are masters of innovation, with a great passion for precision and ahead of their time. In 1921 just as in 2021. 2019 The City Museum Aarau opens the exhibition "Kern exakt200!" to celebrate 200 years of Swiss surveying history. In 1819 - exactly 200 years ago - Jakob Kern founded his measurement instrument factory in Aarau and laid the foundation for a successful company history. 2016 Leica Geosystems announces the first product in their new BLK product series, the Leica BLK360, a highly innovative one-button imaging scanner. 2013 With the Leica Pegasus:One the company announces its first vehicle-agnostic mobile mapping solution. 2010 The Leica myWorld customer portal is introduced to allow customers to access product information, support tools and trainings online. 2005 Acquired by Hexagon AB, Sweden, and start of a new era. The innovative power of Kern, Wild and Leica Geosystems still shape Hexagon's world today. 2000 IPO of Leica Geosystems (LGSN) on Swiss Stock Exchange. American company Cyra Technologies Inc. is acquired and thus the age of high-definition 3D scanning starts. 1997 Leica Group split into Leica Microsystems and Leica Geosystems. Hans Hess becomes President of Leica Geosystems 1994 Acquisition of civilian GPS businesses from Magnavox and introduction of System 200 – the first in-house GPS product. 1991 Digitisation continues apace: in March the WILD NA2000, the world’s first digital level, causes a sensation at the USA’s most important surveying congress in Denver. It is awarded the photonics innovation prize. 1990 WILD-Leitz merges with Cambridge Instruments to become the Leica Group. 1988 Kern & Co. AG is acquired by the WILD-Leitz Group. 1986 Formation of the Wild Leitz Group, acquisition of Leitz Wetzlar (including Leica Camera business) announced on 17 December 1986. 1985 In partnership with American company Magnavox Corporation, the first GPS receiver for surveying applications, the WILD WM101, is launched. 1980 Kern has a breakthrough in analytical photogrammetry with the DSR1 stereoplotter and the GP1 plotter. 1977 The introduction of electronic theodolites, starting with the Kern E2, is a major step towards digitisation and automation. The in-built liquid compensator formed the basis for the inclination sensors used today. 1969 «Houston, Tranquility Base here, the Eagle has landed». The first moon landing was filmed with a camera that contained a lens developed and manufactured by Kern. 1968 The first infrared distance measurement instrument DISTOMAT DI10 (developed by WILD and French company Sercel) revolutionised surveying technology as the first close range metre. It can measure distances of up to 1,000 m with centimetre accuracy. 1964 The hundred thousandth WILD theodolite is calibrated in Heerbrugg and shipped off to be used anywhere on the planet. 1959 Kern launches the Switar-Objective 1:1,6,f=10 mm with the world's fastest light transmission. This is an important milestone in optics and the stepping stone for the NASA order for the Apollo mission. 1947 The new double-circle self-reducing tachymeter DK-RT is a standard instrument for land register surveys in Switzerland for decades. 1932 The WILD C12 stereometric camera is launched. It is used for photogrammetric surveying. Countless police organisations around the world used such an instrument for decades. 1927 The rapid development of aeroplanes means that aerial cameras can be used. Heinrich WILD developed a lens which is used in the new C2 aerial camera. 1926 The first two A2 autographs are delivered to the Amt für Landestopografie along with WILD phototheodolites. 1923 Heinrich Wild revolutionises surveying with the first theodolite T2. 1921 Foundation of WILD Heerbrugg in Heerbrugg, Switzerland on 26 April 1921. 1904 The 1904 model precision level was built based on a report created by Heinrich Wild, engineer at the department of topography. 1851 Jakob Kern is awarded at a world exhibition in London for the quality of his products. 1835 Delivery of a Borda circle, a twelve-inch theodolite, to General Dufour. It was an essential tool in the creation of the Dufour map of Switzerland. 1819 Foundation of the «Mechanical Workshop Jacob Kern» in Aarau, Switzerland. Jakob Kern initially produced instruments for technical drawings and until 1900 these remained the main production branch of Kern. These instruments become the worldwide standard for technology and quality. DOWNLOADS RELATED LINKS GO TO E-BOOK History poster In 1921 Heinrich Wild founded WILD Heerbrugg, where Leica Geosystems is still headquartered today, and set an important milestones in the development of precision instruments. See 100 years of history in one big wallpaper... GET HISTORY POSTER (PDF) Special Edition Geomatik Schweiz (German) To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of "Heinrich Wild, Werkstätte für Feinmechanik und Optik", Geomatik Schweiz has printed a special edition. DOWNLOAD Contact Leica Geosystems Find your Leica Geosystems contact for sales, support and technical service. 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