Press Release

Wolfsburg Planetarium celebrates its reopening

New ZEISS technology for the largest planetarium in Lower Saxony

10 March 2023

Jena/Wolfsburg | 10 March 2023 | ZEISS Planetariums

ZEISS has equipped the Wolfsburg Planetarium with a new generation of video projectors for 360-degree projection. After thirteen reliable years with the first generation of ZEISS VELVET projectors, the planetarium can now use projectors with modern LED technology. The new ZEISS VELVET LED projectors offer very high color brilliance with the world's best contrast of 1:2.5 million. Thanks to the significantly higher resolution, visitors will experience a sharper and more detailed image from now on.

“Following the modernization of our STARMASTER two years ago and the replacement of the ZEISS VELVET projectors, the Wolfsburg Planetarium is one of the most modern planetariums in Europe,” says a delighted Eileen Pollex, the planetarium's managing director. “The technology of the ZEISS VELVET projectors was developed specifically for planetariums and simulators, both areas where extremely high contrast is essential,” explains Martin Kraus, Head of Planetariums at ZEISS. “In less than three years, we were able to equip 23 planetariums with the new VEVET LED projectors. For our customers, this means not only more brilliant projection, but also significant energy and cost savings.”

ZEISS had already upgraded the ZEISS STARMASTER star projector in 2021. Now the star projector and fulldome projection together can present astronomical and scientific simulations under the Wolfsburg dome in a particularly realistic way. The new technology was inaugurated in a ceremony with invited guests. The first visitors were already able to experience the new projection quality in two sold-out concerts by Giorgio Claretti at the planetarium.

The Wolfsburg Planetarium and ZEISS have a long history together. In 1978, Volkswagen AG acquired, among other things, a planetarium projector from the then VEB Carl Zeiss Jena in return for the delivery of cars to the GDR and donated the ZEISS SPACEMASTER projector to the city of Wolfsburg. “The planetarium with technology from the East was opened in western Wolfsburg in 1983, and that was despite the fact that planetariums were also built at ZEISS in Oberkochen,” Kraus explains. By 1996, the reunification of ZEISS East and West was already history and Wolfsburg got its second star projector, a STARMASTER, also from Jena.

Press contact Beatrice Weinberger

ZEISS Planetariums

About ZEISS

ZEISS is an internationally leading technology enterprise operating in the fields of optics and optoelectronics. In the previous fiscal year, the ZEISS Group generated annual revenue totaling 8.8 billion euros in its four segments Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology, Industrial Quality & Research, Medical Technology and Consumer Markets (status: 30 September 2022).

For its customers, ZEISS develops, produces and distributes highly innovative solutions for industrial metrology and quality assurance, microscopy solutions for the life sciences and materials research, and medical technology solutions for diagnostics and treatment in ophthalmology and microsurgery. The name ZEISS is also synonymous with the world's leading lithography optics, which are used by the chip industry to manufacture semiconductor components. There is global demand for trendsetting ZEISS brand products such as eyeglass lenses, camera lenses and binoculars.

With a portfolio aligned with future growth areas like digitalization, healthcare and Smart Production and a strong brand, ZEISS is shaping the future of technology and constantly advancing the world of optics and related fields with its solutions. The company's significant, sustainable investments in research and development lay the foundation for the success and continued expansion of ZEISS' technology and market leadership. ZEISS invests 13 percent of its revenue in research and development – this high level of expenditure has a long tradition at ZEISS and is also an investment in the future.

With over 40,000 employees, ZEISS is active globally in almost 50 countries with around 30 production sites, 60 sales and service companies and 27 research and development facilities (status: 31 March 2023). Founded in 1846 in Jena, the company is headquartered in Oberkochen, Germany. The Carl Zeiss Foundation, one of the largest foundations in Germany committed to the promotion of science, is the sole owner of the holding company, Carl Zeiss AG.

Further information at www.zeiss.com