Franke & Heidecke to End All Operations

[henryp]

<p>http://www.photographyblog.com/news/franke_heidecke_to_end_all_operations/<br>

Franke & Heidecke, manufacturer of Rolleiflex TLR accessories and 6x6 bodies for Leaf and Sinar, is to lay off all of its employees and terminate all operations by September. Last week, photoscala.de <a title="reported" href="http://www.photoscala.de/Artikel/Bei-Franke-Heidecke-gehen-die-Lichter-aus" title="reported">reported</a> that the company’s 131 employees had received notice of the impanding layoffs, and the news of the closure has since been <a title="confirmed" href="http://www.bjp-online.com/public/showPage.html?page=864695" title="confirmed">confirmed</a> by the British Journal of Photography too. Franke & Heidecke is a company whose roots can be traced back to 1920, when Paul Franke and Reinhold Heidecke founded a workshop in Braunschweig, Germany, called <em>Werkstatt für Feinmechanik und Optik, Franke & Heidecke</em> . The company became famous for its Rolleiflex TLRs, whose production started exactly 80 years ago. The fall of Franke & Heidecke is expected to bring about a massive restructuring of the medium format <a href="http://www.photographyblog.com/news/franke_heidecke_to_end_all_operations/#" target="_blank" >camera</a> market.</p>

[olegmoiseyenko]

<p>What a sad news! I guess their never became a very profitable company and last economy downturn has contributed to this even more... It's hard to believe that nobody will producing the famous Rollei now :( Or I am mistaken?</p>

[benny_spinoza]

<p>Maybe Cosina will buy the name and manufacture the Rolleiflex? The name is valuable. This is sad news.</p>

[JDMvW]

<p>We're probably past the canary stage of gas in the mine by now. Still, these are indications that things may well get worse before they get better. On top of it, Merkel's Germany has done almost nothing to stimulate their own economy, so the USA is doing all the heavy lifting in this crisis.<br>

Even Ossies like Merkel, share that special German fear of inflation, given what happened in Germany in the 20s when a wheelbarrow of bills would barely buy a loaf of bread. It's understandable, but not helpful in these circumstances, as Rollei, Opel, and many other companies are, or will, show...</p><div></div>

[q.g._de_bakker]

<p>Yes, JDM.<br>

It were not just a bunch of people trying to go against the current.<br>

It is the end of the world.</p>

<p>Henry,</p>

<p>The Franke & Heidecke company that went bust a while ago is <strong><em>not</em></strong> (!) the company of the same name that designed and produced the Rolleflex 80 years ago.<br>

It is a young company, that usurped the old name.</p>

<p> </p>

[leicaglow]

<p>JDM, the only "heavy lifting" the USA is doing is the treasury and feds loading all of <em>our</em> cash (past, present, and future) into the limos of their cronies.</p>

[ulrik]

<p>It is very sad that the work in Braunschweig is terminated. I had my slide projectors updated to latest specs there recently and my sympathy is with the employees.<br>

This is not the place to discuss politics. But what a joke: ..."so the USA is doing all the heavy lifting in this crisis"... If memory serves me well the crisis originates in the US. Why should Europe copy all irresponsible behavior? Money should be put into companies that have a future, nowhere else.</p>

[david_henderson]

<p>Henry. I guess you're in about as good a position as anyone to see what might happen now. What form do you think the restructuring mentioned here might take?</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

[chris_waller]

<p>That's very sad news. Is there any possibility someone might buy F&H ?</p>

[zml]

<p>For 50 years F&H thought that they could walk on water: then they introduced the SL66... As a 6000 series user I'd love to get a penny for each utterance of WTF! when something went astray...Don't get me wrong, Rolleflex TLR is a great camera but their SLR efforts were often bizarre and strangely under engineered; the drummer they were marching to drummed some strange beats. </p>

[tobey_bilek]

<p>The US stimulus is not well directed and is being used to prop up social programs now and committed into the future. Only 6% has actually been spent to date. So much for the shovel ready projects that were bragged about when they were trying to get it passed. Congress is a fraud.</p>

<p>We are out of money and the future is mortgaged to the hilt. So you can`t count on us. </p>

[remi_lemarchand]

<p>This is a photography web site - go talk about the economy somewhere else.<br>

R.I.P. F&H - you will be missed.</p>

[q.g._de_bakker]

<p>The restructuring?</p>

<p>Leaf is going to be Phase One.<br>

And then there were only three.</p>

<p>If Sinar/Jenoptik does not find a camera platform for their digital backs soon, then there will be only two.</p>

<p>It is truly sad that one of the very big names, one of the 'names' that formed photography as we know it today, is no more.</p>

 

[aplumpton]

<p>Zeiss-Ikon, Voigtlander, Plaubel Makina (MF line of products) are a few which died but have been since resurrected in part (alas DOI could not make a long term go it with Makina). There may be hope for F&H someday, if someone can obtain plant and designs. In any case, Hasselblad and Fuji are still making MF cameras, aswell as Alpa and a few others.</p>

[david_held1]

<p>Thank God that I have a Rollie 2.8F. Great camera. Its a shame when great names go away.<br>

Dave Held</p>

[michael_dimarzio]

<p>Remi, well spoken. You must be an enthusiast.</p>