After serving in the German army during World War II, being severely wounded and taken prisoner, he joined Krenzin in Berlin-Kreuzberg.

Waaske had understood that there was a market for small cameras which would use 135 film rather than the ultra-miniature formats.

When Waaske showed the prototype to Wirgin Musterbau, he was told "So, you've wasted my time and my equipment for your own projects?"

Later, Waaske introduced improvements in the loading system of small format reflex cameras which were mass-produced with the Rollei Rolleiflex SL2000F.

From 1978, Waaske had his own technical design office in Braunschweig, working not only on cameras but also, for instance, on loudspeaker systems which went into production with Blaupunkt.

Waaske was very inclined towards practical usefulness, and he was very critical of the collection edition of the Rollei 35, with casing made of precious metal.