Bernd Wiese: A guarantor for innovation and growth

HSW Mikrooptik Managing Director Bernd Wiese retires after 24 years with the company. Innovative developments and constant growth bear witness to the success of his work. Dr. Ekkehard Heinrichs is his successor - since February, the managing directors have been running the company together as a dual leadership.

After almost a quarter of a century in the company, Bernd Wiese, the managing director of Henke-Sass, Wolf Mikrooptik, retired last Friday. At a celebration in the Burghotel in Nörten-Hardenberg, the shareholders, the management of the Tuttlingen-based parent company Henke-Sass, Wolf, and many of Bernd Wiese's professional companions gathered to express their thanks and appreciation for his merits and achievements.

Application on the in-laws' computer

Bernd Wiese's successful career at Henke-Sass, Wolf Mikrooptik began in the Easter season of 1997. After completing his training as a precision optician at Spindler & Hoyer and mastering his first professional positions at Isco and Zeiss, Bernd Wiese moved there in December 1989 a leading manufacturer of endoscopes in Tuttlingen, Baden-Württemberg. After a few years at the world center for medical technology, Wiese decided to return to his hometown of Göttingen with his young family. During a visit home at Easter, the Wiese inquired about job offers and promptly found an advertisement from Nolte & Grzesik. A precision optician was sought to set up quality control. On the same day, Mr. Wiese called there and made an appointment for an interview. A short application was then written on the in-laws' computer, with which Mr. Wiese appeared on April 1, 1997 at Nolte & Grzeszik, then still in Settmarshausen.

Employment as production manager

During the interview, Wiese found out that he could also be considered for another position. Edgar Nolte and Gerhard Grzesik had built up a micro-optics company with 60 employees and an excellent reputation in the endoscopy industry over a good 30 years. Now, shortly before retirement, executives were sought to keep the company on course for further growth. This development over the next few years took place under the wing of Henke-Sass, Wolf GmbH from Tuttlingen, which Nolte & Grzeszik had taken over at around the same time. So it came about that Bernd Wiese started as production manager on July 1, 1997 – a task that he found interesting in retrospect, but also challenging and unusual in many respects.

Steady growth and innovations in Göttingen and Nörten-Hardenberg

Bernd Wiese experienced the first years as a second apprenticeship. The company, which had moved to Göttingen in 1998, was able to benefit from Bernd Wiese's skills in developing and introducing new technologies. After the complete takeover by Henke-Sass, Wolf, the first CNC machines for the production of rod lenses with ground radii were purchased. The following year, precision opticians were trained at HSW Mikrooptik for the first time. Other innovations under the management of Mr. Wiese included the production of the first compact lenses, the introduction of SAP and the commissioning of the first sputtering system for applying anti-reflective layers. According to Mr. Wiese, it was these technical innovations and successes that gave him a lot of pleasure and motivation.

The move to a new building in the commercial area AREA3 in Nörten-Hardenberg also fell during Bernd Wiese's time. Since 2016, there has been a new company building on an area of ​​almost 20,000 square meters, which was built according to the latest standards. A good 200 employees now work here and the machine park includes more than 50 CNC machines.

Today, Henke-Sass, Wolf Mikrooptik, with more than 50 years of experience and well-known customers all over the world, is one of the most important think tanks in the complex field of micro-optics. The company benefits from the many years of know-how that the precision opticians draw from the tradition of their craft. Today, tweezers and magnifying glasses are supplemented by the latest CNC machines and measuring techniques, so that the end result is micro-optics of the highest quality for endoscopes, but also for microscopes and opto-mechanics.

Corporate success bears the handwriting of Bernd Wiese

At the farewell party for Bernd Wiese on Friday evening, the shareholders and the group management paid tribute to Bernd Wiese's achievements. "The successful development of the company over the past 24 years clearly bears your signature," explained Managing Partner Kathrin McKenna. In doing so, Henke-Sass added, Wolf Managing Director Dr. Markus Westhues, Wiese's fair and modest manner was always visible. "They didn't say a bad word about anyone and always had their own well-founded opinion." The district administrator of the Northeim district, Astrid Klinkert-Kittel, remembered the pragmatic approach of the HSW Mikrooptik managing director, for example when setting up a bus stop in front of the commercial area AREA3.

To celebrate the start of retirement, Bernd Wiese and his wife Martina are sent on trips by the shareholders and employees of HSW Mikrooptik. A cruise along Norway's Hurtigruten - and one of Bernd Wiese's wishes, to spend the night in the Hamburg Elbphilharmonie is also fulfilled.