Rollei

Rollei is a German manufacturer of optical goods founded in 1920 by Paul Franke and Reinhold Heidecke in Braunschweig, Lower Saxony, and maker of the Rolleiflex and Rolleicord series of cameras. After being purchased in 1995 by Samsung Techwin (part of the South Korean Samsung Group) it was sold back to its internal management in 1999. In 2002 Rollei was bought by a Danish investment group, and in 2005 was split into two different companies: Rollei GmbH in Berlin (owner of the Rollei brand and selling various OEM equipments) and Franke & Heidecke GmbH, Feinmechanik und Optik in Brunswick, an equipment factory, subsequently declared bankrupt in early 2009.