Tour Overview

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 and attending the Celebration of Photography and Oskar Barnack Awards. 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. 2024 is the 70th Anniversay or the M camera and Leica has many special activities planned for us.

In November, we will also be having an incredible tour of Japan, with my good friend and world traveler, Amitava “Chats” Chattergee. Chats has traveled to Japan many times and has helped me put together a unique Leica Tour of this fabled land!

We will have meetings with Andreas Kaufmann, Stefan Daniel, Peter Karbe and other Leica Illuminaries!

Leitz Park

Tour of Leitz Park, including the new Leica Factory, Customer Care Department and Museum. We are planning a special tour of the Archivies. In addition, we have many special events planned at Leitz Park. Stefan Daniel, Product Manager and Peter Karbe, Head of Optical Design at Leica, will give special presentations to our group and you will be able to ask questions of both Stefan and Peter. We will also visit the newly opened photo exhibition spaces and of course the Leica Store will be on our list. Join Leica employees for lunch at the Casino Restaurant at Leitz Park, or take a break for coffee and pastry at the Café Leitz. We are also invited to the Leica Oskar Barnack Awards (LOBA). Leica has many special events planned for us.

Old Wetzlar

In old Wetzlar, we will visit the places Oskar Barnack and the Leitz family knew so well. Stand on the same spot at the historic Eisenmarkt where Barnack took one of the first images with the Ur-Leica. We will visit the old Leitz factory Hochhaus and adjacent Administration Building. See the historic Hausertor Werke, where the Leica camera was first produced. We will see the original Leitz Administration Building, site of the famous Board Meeting of 1924 where Ernst Leitz II made the fateful decision to take the risk and make Barnack’sLeica camera. A visit with Lars Netopil, VP of Leica Historica is planned at his shop in Wetzlar. During this visit, you will have a chance to obtain a personalized copy of Lars Netopil’s new book, “Museum Leica”. We will also be joining our German sister society Leica Historica for a visit.

House Friedwart

We will visit Haus Friedwart, the Leitz family home. Located on the Kalsmunt with a view of historic Wetzlar and the Leitz factory, construction of the house was begun at the time Ernst Leitz II traveled with Oskar Barnack to America with the Ur-Leica for evaluation. The basic plan was drawn up by Jean Emil Schmidt, architect to the firm of Ernst Letiz. Bruno Paul, an early proponent of Art Deco, was responsible for planning and execution of the interior design and details. Haus Friedwart provided its owner with a suitable space for a rich social life, and hosted many notable guests over the years, including Albert Schweitzer, Theodore Heuss and Konrad Adenauer. 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 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.