Arrayed waveguide gratings (AWG) originally designed as demultiplexing device and manufactured with well established silicon wafer technology are already used successfully as compact spectrometers with high resolution(1). In this paper, the concept of a new design for a wavelength demultiplexing device based on tailor-made polymers is presented. The motivation for a new design is a smaller footprint of the device and the avoidance of bended waveguides and the associated losses. Extensive simulations were performed to optimize the design. Using microscope projection lithography and hot embossing a first polymer based device was realized. Its characterization and the achieved performance in terms of resolution and covered wavelength range will be discussed.