Rodenstock Gmb H - Rodenstock History

Rodenstock History

The foundation for Rodenstock’s development was laid in 1877 by Josef Rodenstock with his workshop and shop for lenses, frames, barometers, and measurement instruments in Würzburg. It was Josef Rodenstock’s belief that sight defects were not an illness, but could be corrected using the right spectacles. In 1880, he developed his first patented products – diaphragm lenses. Two years later, he started exporting internationally and founded his own production sites. Since 1883 the company’s headquarters is located in Munich.

In the new millennium, the ophthalmic optics company quickly developed from a small tradesman shop into a modern industrial enterprise. For example, the first bifocal lenses came from Rodenstock as did UV-absorbing lenses.

In addition to the production of lenses, the third generation put special focus on the manufacture of frames. In 1955, Rodenstock sold more than one million of them. Other innovations followed like, for example, self-tinting (phototropic) lenses and the first progressive lenses developed by the company, the Progressiv R, which was an immediate success in the 1980s.

In the 90s, the unique selling point as a manufacturer of lenses and frames from a single source was consistently developed. Through continuous innovations, Rodenstock further expanded its market share during that time. In 2000, the company landed a real coup in the field of individual progressive lenses with the product ImpressionILT. Rodenstock invented the modern progressive lens.

With the conversion of the family-run company into a structure suitable for the capital market in 2002, Rodenstock opened up a new management culture, however it still stood by the values of the ophthalmic optics company. Today, more than 4.000 employees are working at 13 production locations in 11 countries.