Saturday, March 24, 2018

THE GLOBE AT LEITZ PARK II AND III IN WETZLAR




Driving from Wetzlar to the new Leica headquarters at Leitz Park, you first arrive at a large roundabout with a huge globe off center.  It was a present to the city of Wetzlar from the Leitz Park corporation and Andreas Kaufmann, chairman of the board of Leica Camera AG.

The globe and roundabout came at a price of half a million euros.  It has a weight of four metric tons and a diameter of 16.5 feet.  The globe is covered with over 1000 circular plates of different diameters, outlining the various continents.  In Europe, at the position of Germany or more precisely, Wetzlar, a red plate marks the home of Leica.

The globe as seen from the Leica headquarters


The view of the globe when arriving from the east

The design came largely from Karin Rehn-Kaufmann and it was implemented by the Frankfurt-based landscape architecture company Wewer.  The globe was built in Ludwigshafen by the firm of Kunstwerk Maudach.  The inside is hollow.  It was built along the same principles as the hulls of ships.  It arrived at Leitz Park in two halves which were welded together along the equator.

Even motorists were part of the considerations for the design of the globe.  It is sandblasted to a matte finish to prevent reflections of the sun that might blind the driver.

By now the globe has become another landmark besides the amazing architecture of the new Leica headquarters at Leitz Park in Wetzlar, which is once again the Mecca of all Leica enthusiasts.

Areal view of Leitz ParkII (left) and III (right) under construction), with the globe in the middle
Photo: Andreas Kaufmann



To comment or to read comments please scroll past the ads below.

All ads present items of interest to Leica owners.


___________________________________________________________________________



http://www.reddotcameras.co.uk/
WIN BIG! 10 PRIZES TO BE WON
CELEBRATING 10 YEARS OF
RED DOT CAMERAS


                                  www.classicconnection.com                                     


 www.leicastoremiami.com  



      www.eddycam.com        

      



Buy vintage Leica cameras from 
America's premier Leica specialist 
www.tamarkin.com

                          
           http://www.tamarkinauctions.com/               http://www.tamarkin.com/leicagallery/upcoming-show

    




Click on image to enlarge



Please make payment via PayPal to GMP Photography

Click on image to enlarge
Please make payment via PayPal to GMP Photography

Click on image to enlarge
Please make payment via PayPal to GMP Photography





Posted by at

2 comments:

  1. AnonymousMarch 24, 2018 at 1:27 PM

    Didn't a bus run into the globe a while ago?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LEICA Barnack Berek BlogMarch 24, 2018 at 1:28 PM

      There was an accident a couple of years ago involving a bus. But it didn't run into the globe, it just managed to get off the road.

      Delete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)