experience wetzlar
Personal Guided Tours of Wetzlar, Germany, Leitz Park
Tour of Tokyo and Kyoto Japan
by Bill Rosauer
Derleicaman Tours is not affiliated with LSI, the International Leica Society
The Total Wetzlar Experience
Join Bill Rosauer, LHSA President Emeritus and Viewfinder Journal Editor for a once in a lifetime experience visiting the home of the Leica, Wetzlar, Germany. Bill will personally guide you on this discovery tour of the new facilities at Leitz Park as well as the historic places important to Leica history in the old city of Wetzlar. This year we will also participate in the Leica Celebration of Photography events.
Bill Rosauer
Bill Rosauer has been associated with Leica for many years, first as an enthusiastic Leica photographer and then as a stand-alone Leica dealer. Bill is a graduate of three Leica Akademies and has traveled to Wetzlar many times over the past 45 years. In addition to being President Emeritus of the LHSA and the Editor of its quarterly journal the Viewfinder since the year 2000, Bill has been a consultant to Leica over the past twenty years. He conceived and guided the execution of the highly successful LHSA Special Editions such as the Black Paint M6; the Hammertone MP with retro 35 Summicron; the MP3 camera in Black Paint and Chrome finish along with the special retro design Summilux 50/1.4 ASPH lens and most recently the Special Edition Classic APO Summicron-M 50/2 ASPH lens.
Bill’s Derleicaman Tour is independant and not affliliated with the LSI
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Leitz Park, Old Wetzlar and Haus Friedwart
From our home base at the Ernst Leitz Hotel, we will begin with a Tour of Leitz Park. Highlights of the tour will be the new Leica Factory, Customer Care Department and Museum, and an exclusive visit to the Archives. In addition, we have many other special events planned at Leitz Park. You will meet Stefan Daniel, Product Manager Photo and Peter Karbe, Head of Optical Design at Leica. We will join Dr. Andreas Kaufmann for personal meeting with our group while in Wetzlar. Join Leica employees for lunch at the Casino Restaurant at Leitz Park. Take a break for coffee and pastry at the Café Leitz. We will also be joining in Leica’s Celebration of Photography for the Leica Oscar Barnack Awards (LOBA). Leica has many special events planned for us. This year, Leica will have many special events celebrating the 70th Anniversary of the M Camera.
In historic old Wetzlar, known for its picturesque half-timbered buildings and cobble stone streets, we will visit the places Oskar Barnack and the Leitz family knew so well. At the historic Eisenmarkt, you will stand on the same spot where Oskar Barnack took one of the first images with the Ur-Leica. We will visit the old Leitz factory Hochhaus and its adjacent Administration Building where the Leitz Museum is located. We will visit the historic Hausertor Werke, where the Leica camera was originally produced. as well as the original Leitz Administration Building, site of the famous Board Meeting of 1924 when Ernst Leitz II made the fateful decision to take the risk and make Barnack’s Leica camera. A visit with Lars Netopil, VP of Leica Historica is planned at his shop and gallery in Wetzlar. During this visit, you will have a chance to obtain a personalized copy of Lars Netopil’s new book, “Museum Leica”.
Located just up the Kalsmunt hill behind the old Leitz Hochhaus, is the home that Ernst Leitz II built for his family, Haus Friedwart. From the house, you can enjoy a view of historic Old Wetzlar and the old Leitz Factory. We are planning an exclusive tour of the Leitz family home. Haus Friedwart provided the Leitz family with a suitable space for a rich social life, and has hosted many notable guests over the years. The house is listed as a State of Hesse historic landmark site, and remains a venue for public events in the areas of music, literature and politics.
Leica Tour of Tokyo and Kyoto Japan
Join us for an incredible once-in-a-lifetime trip to Japan. We will be exploring both Tokyo and Kyoto, and will be seeing many fantastic photogenic locations in both cities.
We arrive in Tokyo, and among the sites we will visit the Sensoji Temple, the Ginza shopping district, the Rainbow Bridge of Odaiba, and also explore the nightlife in Shinjuko. We will have dinner with Bellamy Hunt, well known for his Japan Camera Hunter blog. We will also explore the camera store scene in Tokyo as well.
We will travel on the fabled Bullet Train to Kyoto. There we will see the Fushimi Ilnari Shrine, famous for its “thousands of torii gates” at this sacred Shinto shrine. We will also be guests of the Leica Store Kyoto and will meet with management there. We will also see the Arashiyama Bamboo and GroveTenryu-ji Temple with its temple grounds and beautiful pond Garden. We then return to Tokyo on the Bullet Train again.
