Jena, May 21, 2026 – The Jena-based high-tech company Göpel Electronic is celebrating its 35th anniversary this month, looking back on a successful development from a local spin-off to a globally active specialist for inspection technology.
- Company: Göpel Electronic GmbH
- Occasion: 35th company anniversary (founded in May 1991)
- Location: Jena, Thüringen
- Key figures: Around 240 employees, over 40 million euros annual turnover
- Specialization: Test and inspection systems for electronics manufacturing and automotive applications
From Zeiss Spin-off to Global Medium-Sized Enterprise
The success story of Göpel Electronic began in May 1991, immediately after German reunification. The company was founded as a spin-off of the former „Carl Zeiss Jena Mess- und Prüftechnik“ division by Holger Göpel, Thomas Wenzel, and Manfred Schneider as a family business. What started as a small engineering office has developed over the past three and a half decades into one of the most significant medium-sized technology companies in Thüringen.
Today, the family business is firmly anchored in its second generation. With Alice Göpel, Jörg Schneider, and Ricardo Wenzel, the successors of the founders manage the operational business and continue the tradition. The company serves customers in over 25 countries and maintains a worldwide network of its own locations and sales partners.
Research and Development as a Growth Engine
A central success factor for Göpel Electronic is its high level of innovation. According to the company, it invests around a quarter of its annual turnover – which now exceeds 40 million euros – directly into research and development (R&D) every year. This rate is well above the industry average and secures the company’s technological market leadership in the field of optical and X-ray inspection systems for electronics manufacturing.
„35 years of Göpel Electronic stand for innovation, reliability, and sustainable growth,“ emphasizes Managing Director Alice Göpel. Many solutions in the portfolio were created in close cooperation with customers to meet the increasing demands of the modern electronics industry.
Historical Context: The Cradle of the Jena Electronics and Optics Industry
The success of Göpel Electronic is closely linked to the transformation of the Jena industrial landscape after 1989. The radical change of the monumental Carl Zeiss Jena combine forced thousands of highly qualified engineers and physicists to reorient themselves at the time. Through numerous spin-offs and new start-ups in today’s Jena-Göschwitz industrial area and at the Beutenberg, a highly efficient network of optics, photonics, and electronics companies emerged, which today enjoys a worldwide reputation as the „City of Light Jena“. Göpel Electronic is considered one of the prime examples of successful economic structural change in East Germany.
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Göpel Electronic celebrates 35th anniversary
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