Robert Helbling (1874-1954) is probably the least known of the three founders of Wild Heerbrugg. With his photographs in the Argentine Andes and for the fortress maps on the Gotthard, Robert Helbling became the pioneer of stereophotogrammetry in Switzerland. Without his work, there would have been no photogrammetry in the early days of Wild Heerbrugg. The technique of using the geometry of sensor beams is still used today in most Leica Geosystems equipment and forms a basis for the company's many years of success.

A comprehensive biography of Helbling by Bernhard Ruetz will be published shortly.  At the event we will give you first insights into the versatile and highly interesting life of Robert Helbling and his role in the foundation of Wild Heerbrugg.

In der Woche vom 8. November wird das Jubiläum schliesslich auch vor Ort in Heerbrugg gefeiert. Es stehen sowohl der «Tag der Geomatik» wie auch die Fachtagung der Gesellschaft für die Geschichte der Geodäsie in der Schweiz (GGGS) auf dem Programm. Auch wird das Jubiläum zusammen mit unseren Kunden im Rahmen der Geomatik News 2021 im Würth-Haus in Rorschach gefeiert. Ein Besuch der Ausstellung in Heerbrugg wird bei dieser Gelegenheit möglich sein.

The development of WILD Heerbrugg into today's Leica Geosystems is told along with striking milestones and illustrated with the help of related stories, equipment and pictures. In the course of building up the "WILD Collection", previously little-known, even strange and curious things also came to light. The participants can thus expect interesting and exciting stories and impressions.
In this second part, the exciting history from WILD to Wild-Leitz to Leica and finally to Leica Geosystems is also highlighted. However, not only names changed during this time, but also technologically some radical upheavals had to be overcome.

When the American Department of Defense decided in the early 1980s to launch the NAVSTAR GPS programme as the successor to the ageing Doppler navigation system TRANSIT, a few people realised very early on that this future global satellite system could also be used for precise surveying tasks. The management of the Wild company came to this realisation very early, which led to the foundation of a joint venture with the American know-how provider Magnavox as early as 1985.

The lecture is intended to illuminate the path from this first step to the establishment of GPS / GNSS as one of the most important business sectors for our company today, as well as to provide an insight into the many challenges that had to be overcome in the first 20 years.

Am 26. April 2021 feierten wir den 100. Jahrestag der Gründung der „Heinrich Wild, Werkstätte für Feinmechanik und Optik“ in Heerbrugg mit der Eröffnung einer Jubiläumsausstellung. Diese Ausstellung bietet einen multimedialen Einblick in die Geschichte und Gegenwart der Vermessung mit Revolutionen und Glanzleistungen von WILD, Leica Geosystems und Hexagon für die präzise Erfassung der Realität.

Führungen jeweils um:
09:00, 10:00, 11:00, 13:30, 14:30 und 15:30
Anmeldung an der Reception der Leica Geosystems AG telefonisch unter 071 727 31 31 oder vor Ort Mo. – Fr. von 07:30 bis 17:00 Uhr und Sa. 11. September 2021 von 08:00 bis 12:00 Uhr

Nicht geeignet für Kinder unter 12-Jahren

The development of WILD Heerbrugg into today's Leica Geosystems is told along with striking milestones and illustrated with the help of related stories, equipment and pictures. In the course of building up the "WILD Collection", previously little-known, even strange and curious things also came to light. The participants can thus expect interesting and exciting stories and impressions.

Part II: 1981-2021 will follow on October 25.

Input event showing historical and current surveying products and technologies for industrial surveying (in German). Hexagon employees and former Kern employees provide insights into a wide variety of surveying work in industrial environments. Further information.

Preparations for the anniversary activities "100 Years of Innovation Heerbrugg" already started at the beginning of 2018 with the creation of a collection of historical artefacts related to the history of our company. The "HISTORIC WILD" group is entrusted with this and reports in this article on its diverse work, which ultimately led to the new anniversary exhibition. Other important people who contributed to the creation of the exhibition also have their say. Finally, you will get a first insight into this new exhibition.

Part 1 - The WILD BC-4 Camera and its contribution to the first Worldwide Satellite Triangulation Network
Eugen Voit (20 min)

The T4 astronomical theodolite launched in 1944 marks the pinnacle of mechanical-optical precision. Based on this T4 and the lenses of the areal cameras the BC-4 ballistic camera was launched 1952. In 1966 The US “Coast and Geodetic Survey” developed its satellite triangulation program. BC-4 cameras were used to track the trajectories of the PAGEOS satellites for the definition of a first geodetic world network.

Part 2 - How WILD got GPS – an Overview 
Blackie Schwarz (20 min)

The Wild management recognized very early the importance of the US NAVSTAR GPS Program for surveying. This resulted in the establishment of a joint venture with the American know-how carrier Magnavox in 1985. This lecture offers an overview of the detailed presentation that follows life at the Optik-Hus later this year.

Register now for the Livestream!

The current digitization wave offers the possibility of reconstructing, animating and preserving technical instruments and cultural assets in 3D. This offers completely new aspects of historical research and didactics, which are cloud-based and collaborative, and can be made accessible worldwide via the internet.

The bestseller Wild T2, which has been sold more than 100,000 times in seven decades, and which, thanks to its cylindrical axis, optical coincidence micrometer, and compact design, can be used as a high-precision theodolite (0.0002gon), is the first of its kind in the world. 

(0.0002gon), a 3D digital twin is created and animated by combining computer vision, computer tomography, endoscopy, and interactive computer graphics. The model is "open," and further details can be added at any time.

175 Jahre Topographische Karte der Schweiz. Vor 175 Jahren erschienen die ersten beiden Blätter der Topographischen Karte der Schweiz. Im Kolloquium wird der nationale und internationale Entstehungskontext der sogenannten Dufourkarte beleuchtet.

Registrierung für den Livestream

How did England find the German secret weapon? How did they get detailed information in enemy territory? How were the D-Day landings prepared? What was the contribution of WILD devices?
 
The speaker aims to answer these and other questions about British air reconnaissance's impressive success story with WILD evaluation equipment. In doing so, he will pay tribute to the invaluable content of aerial photographs as the basis for systematic 4D information acquisition for a wide range of specialist areas, a subject that is still very topical today.

Everything is landscape! And what does that have to do with me? Lecture by Prof. Dr. Anne Brandl, Professor for Spatial Development, University of Liechtenstein

Three-quarters of all Swiss people live in an urban landscape like the Alpine Rhine Valley. Settlement areas, transport infrastructures, open spaces close to settlements and open landscape structures penetrate, overlap and mix. It is not always quite clear where one place ends and the next begins. We can be in St. Gallen or Bregenz quickly for shopping, in the woods with the dog in ten minutes or with the children at the lake. We see cows on our bike tour and reach various theatres, cinemas and museums within half an hour. We perceive this as well as the city and countryside, dense and wide, loud and quiet, church tower and high-rise as an attractive location and quality of life. We live in a region that offers us everything. But do we appreciate the qualities of our urban landscapes enough? Landscape is an area as it is perceived by man. Its character is the result of the effect and interaction of natural and human factors. Landscape is a collective good. As we live, so does our landscape. The inward building density resulting from the revised spatial planning law will change the appearance and qualities of our urban landscapes. It is therefore high time to discuss together what is important to us about our urban landscapes. Information and registration: www.vhs-rheintal.ch

Warum entwickeln sich ein bis ins 20. Jahrhundert immer wieder von Überschwemmungen geplagtes Gebiet und ein aus nur wenigen Häusern bestehender Weiler innert Jahrzehnten zum Standort mehrerer präzisionstechnischer Unternehmen auf globalem Spitzenniveau? 

Diese und weitere Fragen zur schweizweit einzigartigen Wirtschaftsgeschichte der Region Heerbrugg werden in diesem Vortrag beantwortet. Der Referent würdigt dabei, eingebettet in den historischen Kontext, die herausragende Bedeutung von Persönlichkeiten wie Karl Völker, Jacob II Schmidheiny, Ernst Schmidheiny, Heinrich Wild und Robert Helbling  auf dem Weg des Mittelrheintals zur innovativen Hochtechnologie-Region.