Gerhard Heydrich had a talent as an inventor: This can be seen from his patents of 1933, which presumably also gave him experience in patent law.
A man who has largely been forgotten today in fact played a key role in the creation of the Franke company: Gerhard Heydrich. Born in Langenweddingen in 1884, the businessman ran a trading business in Jena from 1919 for the “distribution of raw materials for industry and representation for steel and brass”, which later became his “trade in optical raw materials”. His customers also included Zeiss, where he came into contact with Erich Franke.
Gerhard Heydrich knew about the economic importance of patents, as in 1933 he himself registered two thermometers he had invented. The idea of marketing the wire race bearing invented by Erich Franke, but patented by Zeiss, with a joint company was born early on. In June 1945 – Erich Franke had just moved to Heidenheim – Heydrich wrote to him from Jena: “I am currently drafting a letter to the company C. Z. [Carl Zeiss], on the basis of which I am requesting the two patents [there was now an additional patent for the wire race ball bearing] be transferred and developed for civilian use.” The basis of this request was an alleged promise made by Walther Bauersfeld to Erich Franke, whom Heydrich then asked for proof of this.
However, the matter was not quite that simple, as demonstrated by the ensuing lively correspondence between the two. Heydrich even instructed a lawyer, who considered legal action against Zeiss to be “useless”. The fundamental changes at Zeiss in Jena, which became a state-owned enterprise (Volkseigener Betrieb, VEB), and the unwillingness of contacts in the Soviet occupation zone (SBZ) to co-operate proved to be major obstacles.
How the agreement was finally reached remains unclear. However, it is undisputed that Gerhard Heydrich remained tirelessly on the ball and played a decisive role. In November 1947, the company Carl Zeiss, Optische Werke in Jena, finally entered into an agreement with Erich Franke. This agreement granted Franke “the exclusive licence to the wire race ball bearing DRP 625 461 and the additional patent DRP 626 890 that he invented himself.” Tragically, Gerhard Heydrich did not live to see the commercial utilisation of the patents: He died in 1948 at the age of 65 while the company “Franke & Heydrich GmbH” was still being founded. //
From 1945, Gerhard Heydrich worked expertly and tirelessly in Jena to secure the release of the patents on Erich Franke's inventions from Zeiss.