The story
The Optikotechna company was founded in 1933 in Přerov, Czechoslovakia. Originally established with the intention of producing a limited range of lenses and condensers, the company rapidly expanded the range of products to include enlargers, composite lenses, binoculars, riflescopes, cameras and slide projectors.
In 1935 Optikotechna became a subsidiary of Zbrojovka Brno and a major supplier of military optics for the Czechoslovak Army. The company retained its focus on military production when it was seized by the Germans during the occupation of Czechoslovakia as well as after World War II, when it was nationalized and renamed to Meopta – an acronym for MEchanická OPTická výrobA ("mechanical optical manufacturing"). In 1945 the company merged with the Bratislava subsidiary of C. P. Goerz. Apart from military deliveries, the company became one of the world's major manufacturers of cinema projectors between 1947 and 1970. The abrupt halt of military demand after the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact forced the company to refocus mainly on civilian applications.
The company was privatized in 1992. Members of the Rausnitz family, who emigrated from Czechoslovakia to the United States in 1946, became the majority owners.
In December 2009, the Ministry of Industry and Trade issued a decision to provide a subsidy from the OPEI for the Modernization of Meopta Research and Development project, so that the following year the development building could be reconstructed and research and development capacities were significantly expanded.
In 2026, the company had c. 1,000–1,500 employees in Přerov and 150 in the United States.
Meopta owner Paul Rausnitz received the Medal of Merit for the State in the field of business from the hands of the president of the Czech Republic Miloš Zeman on 28 October 2013.
Meopta U.S.A., Inc.
The company which became Meopta U.S.A., Inc. was founded by the Czech-American Rausnitz family in New York in 1960 under the name Tyrolit Company, Inc. At that time, its main business was selling grinding wheels in the United States and Canada. Tyrolit gradually changed its focus to manufacturing various optical products and in 2005 was renamed to Meopta U.S.A., Inc.
From Wikipedia’s article on Meopta, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5