Manufacturers: Eschenbach

Eschenbach Optik GmbH was founded in 1913. Today, the company has 550 employees, including 330 in Germany, and markets its binoculars, spotting scopes, microscopes, magnifiers and weather stations in more than 80 countries. The head office is in Nuremberg, and there are subsidiaries in Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, the USA, Japan, Spain, Poland and the Czech Republic.

An extract from the company's history

1913
Josef Eschenbach founds the company in his name on 15 November, with the aim of establishing a wholesale business in optical products and drawing instruments.

1918-1937
The Eschenbach company continues to grow. First, marketing material and catalogues are printed. Even in difficult economic times, such as 1929 to 1933, the company manages to expand. New target groups are added thanks to the growth in popularity of the motor car.

1954
Move to new business premises in Hegelstraße in Nuremberg. In the 1950s Rudolf Eschenbach demonstrates the far-sightedness to become one of the first German entrepreneurs to import binoculars from the Far East, alongside production in Nuremberg

1988
With the introduction of the collection in Germany, Eschenbach revolutionises the spectacles frames market with a superior innovation, and lays the foundation for the future market leadership in Germany in the field of spectacle frames.

From 1990
The network of sales offices already established in Austria, Switzerland and the USA is gradually expanded to 12 companies with the objective of providing the best possible service to specialist retailers and users.

1996
Official opening of the new technology centre in Andernacher Strasse in Nuremberg. Under optimum conditions, visual aids and lenses are developed and produced here.

1999
The Eschenbach family hand over the operational management to an independent management team, which, in partnership with Hannover Finanz, one of the most renowned German investment companies, acquires shares in the company.

2002
With the implementation of the high-volume production of diffractive optical elements, Eschenbach sets a milestone in the development of visual aids (noves, mobilux far and other products). In the same year, Eschenbach acquires Brendel, the spectacle brand established in 1901, thereby expanding the frames portfolio especially in the women's segment.

2007
Barclays Private Equity together with the management of the company acquires the Eschenbach Group based in Nuremberg. The previous owners, Hannover Finanz and the Eschenbach family, give up their shareholding. Over recent decades, Eschenbach products have received countless awards for outstanding product design, including:

• Design Centre Stuttgart
• Industrial Forum Hannover IF
• New York Museum of Modern Art (MOMA)
• Design Centre North Rhine-Westphalia
• Red Dot Award
• Silmo D´Or Award
• International Design Award from the State of Baden-Württemberg
• as well as a number of product award wins, test wins, and awards in various trade journals