Foundation/Acquisition: 1969
Location: Chamerau
Management: Stefan Brück, Bernhard Preis
“I went to the Bavarian Forest looking for home-based workers, but I came home with a factory.” It was with these words that Philipp M. Winter described his search for workers and a production facility for the labour-intensive manufacture of ski goggles in the 1960s. On 4 June 1969, he founded the uvex sports Lederdorn factory in the Bavarian Forest, where ten employees and ten home workers initially began manufacturing ski, motorbike and diving goggles. The Rietz button factory became part of the uvex group.
Ten years after the company was founded, the first scratch-resistant polycarbonate lenses for ski goggles were produced. This was not to be the only innovation: in 1986, the company introduced the first double-lens design with a PVC seal, and in 1997, the injection moulding processes were fully automated. Due to rising production figures, the site was expanded in 2006. For 50 years, the site – which had been developed into a modern technology centre – produced sports and sunglasses (uvex and ALPINA), ski helmets (uvex and ALPINA) and riding helmets. To capitalise on the unique synergies between sport and occupational safety, safety helmets and full-view goggles from the uvex safety sub-group have also been rolling off the production lines since 2019.
In 2024, an internal restructuring took place and the company was renamed UVEX SAFETY Lederdorn GmbH. Today, the injection moulding centre manufactures riding helmets (custom-made for athletes) as well as visors, face shields, full-view goggles, safety helmets, forestry helmets and components.
What do our staff and visitors appreciate most about this location? The view of the Haidstein from the “Großer Arber” meeting room.
