Guests of the event on January 18, 2024 included group employees, members of the Supervisory Board and the Group Works Council as well as customers and partners from business, science and culture. Thuringia’s Minister President Bodo Ramelow and Economics Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee were present on behalf of the state of Thuringia as the main shareholder.

In his welcoming address, Minister President Bodo Ramelow emphasized how important openness is for companies, but also for the state of Thuringia, and highlighted the Jenoptik campaign for more openness as a positive example. Jena’s Lord Mayor Dr. Thomas Nitzsche agreed with this and at the same time referred to the successful transformation of the city of Jena in recent years.

The Jenoptik Executive Board members reported to the audience on the Group’s current development. CFO Dr. Prisca Havranek-Kosicek mentioned the Group’s successful sustainability projects and the latest forecast for the past fiscal year, for which Jenoptik will publish the preliminary figures on February 7.

Executive Board member Dr. Ralf Kuschnereit reported on innovations and investment milestones, including the topping-out ceremony for the new high-tech fab in Dresden. President & CEO Dr. Stefan Traeger summarized strategic initiatives as well as Jenoptik’s recently launched campaign for more openness, which aims to promote to stay open to progress, diversity, tolerance and different perspectives. Another initiative in Thuringia, which Jenoptik has already joined, will also send a similar signal for openness to the world, said Traeger.

Commitment was also the keyword for this year’s fundraising campaign. As in previous years, Jenoptik used the New Year’s reception as an opportunity to ask guests for a donation for a good cause. This year, the donations will benefit an initiative from Jena citizens that is campaigning for a Lothar Späth memorial in Jena. Lothar Späth was the first managing director of Jenoptik in the 1990s. By the evening of the New Year’s reception, around 3,000 euros had been collected, for which not only Jenoptik, but above all Martin Fischer and Heiner Schaumann as representatives of the initiative expressed their thanks.

Sina Reeder, presenter at Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR), hosted the program. In the supporting program, the drumming ensemble BOUNDZ from Berlin, Germany enthused the audience with bright and powerful drum performances.

In addition to discussions and networking, the guests had many opportunities after the official program to explore experiments and optical phenomena themselves or under the guidance of the Imaginata guides in the station park of the “Experimentarium” Imaginata, which focuses on the natural sciences. This was the second time that the reception was held in the Imaginata. Jenoptik is the Experimentarium’s main sponsor and extended its sponsorship agreement for a further three years in summer 2023.

Images are available in the Jenoptik image database in the Press Release section.

About Jenoptik

Optical technologies are the basis of our business: Jenoptik is a globally active photonics group and operates in the two divisions Advanced Photonic Solutions and Smart Mobility Solutions. The non-photonic activities, which are particularly geared towards the automotive market, are managed as independent brands under the Non-Photonic Portfolio Companies.

Our key markets primarily include Semiconductors & Electronics, Life Science & Medical Technology and Smart Mobility. More than 4,500 employees (fiscal year 2022) work for the Jenoptik Group worldwide, headquartered in Jena (Germany). JENOPTIK AG is listed on the German Stock Exchange in Frankfurt and is included in the MDax and TecDax. In fiscal year 2022, Jenoptik generated revenue of 980.7 million euros.