Leica Factory Tour

I am planning a pilgrimage to Solms, Germany to visit the Leica

Factory. I will be flying into Frankfurt and taking the train

directly from the airport. Is there a hotel in Solms or would it be

best to find a place in nearby, Wetzlar?

 

I am aware that I must contact Karl-Hans Welcker at the factory, in

advance, to schedule a tour.

 

Are there discounts to be had at the Leica Factory Store? I have

heard that there are factory seconds for sale at a greatly discounted

price. Is this true? Are purchases made at the Factory Store

available with the USA warranty?

 

All tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for

your answers.

 

Aloha,

 

Bob Hooper, Honolulu.

It's like the Hershey factory tour. At the end you get a free M7.

Hotel Wetzlarer Hof in Wetzlar has small but very reasonably priced rooms. It's located in

the center of the old city within walking distance of many shops and restaurants, and the

buildings one sees in the early Leica images of Wetzlar.

 

http://www.to-the.com/city_partner_hotel_wetzlarer_hof/

 

That is where Leica put us up when they last held an English language at the Akademie for

the M and R in 1999.

 

Best regards,

>Paul Neuthaler , jun 08, 2004; 07:00 p.m.

 

>It's like the Hershey factory tour. At the end you get a free M7.

 

Is that like the Pabst Brewery tour? You get, uh, something remotely like beer at the end??

I have just returned from Frankfurt and had the good fortune to take the Leica tour this past Friday. Herr Welcker is a great communicator and the tour is extremely interesting. Solms is about 40 minutes by car from downtown Frankfurt depending on the traffic so you might as well stay in Frankfurt if you rent a car. There's not much more to do there albeit the area is quite nice. Hopefully Carsten Bockermann will chime in the thread with local info. Weather was foul last weekend.<div></div>

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Have a great trip. If Herr Welcker is a great communicator, could you please

ask him to communicate something about the future of the Leica R system.

Something specific would be nice instead of the standard - Leica is committed

to the future of the R system. Blah, blah.

 

Of course you can't buy factory seconds aftert the factory tour. They keep

them to sell to Jay.

Don't miss the Hugo Boss factory shop near Stuttgart.

Brand new suits sell for about 60-70% less than what you pay for them in the stores.

>> If Herr Welcker is a great communicator, could you please ask him to communicate something about the future of the Leica R system. <<

 

He did mention the new 10 Mpx digital back will be shown at this year Photokina but I guess he's not the indicated person to answer that --he is retired after all. Try Herr Cohn instead.

Jorge,

 

if the weather is OK it?s a good idea to visit Wetzlar (about 10km from Solms). The Eisenmarkt in Wetzlar still looks exactly as it did when Oskar Barnack photographed it with the Ur-Leica. Braunfels with its castle (again about 10km from Solms, albeit in the opposite direction) is also very nice. You can drive back to Frankfurt through the Taunus area, stopping on the Feldberg to get a view of the Frankfurt basin.

 

Carsten

Bob, The Wetzlarer Hof is a great hotel (I've stayed there) but there is a closer hotel to the factory. I can't remember the name. Why not contact the factory and ask? Happy Snaps, Sal

My friend who is now retired from Leica tells me smiling that during perhaps twenty years what Leica means "factory second" is that which comes again the second time to the factory for the rebuilding.

 

When visiting the factory at Solms you will perhaps surprise because mostly the builders are youngladies. Some people are expecting quite oldmen. Of course this is in reverse of the buyers.

 

Near to Solms is of course Wetzlar. One should see there and take the important photograph of the old bridge!

"When visiting the factory at Solms you will perhaps surprise because mostly the builders are youngladies."

 

I collect CMC Model cars, very high precision 1/12 scale, beautifully made models of the Silver Arrows of the 1930's.

 

The cars are made in a factory in China, where most of the assemblers are young women - the CMC company's marketing director told me that young women have the best dexterity skills for the delicate construction ...

Our friend Jorge at Solms<div></div>