140 Years of Märklin >> A New Partner From Plochingen

Extending the product range with Lutz articles affected first and foremost technical toys. For a while these continued to be produced as before, but soon they became "märklinized". The take-over of the Ellwangen firm played no small part in the rapid rise of the Göppingen company which, from 1892 onwards, called itself "Märklin Bros. & Co.". By then another associate had been won over - Emil Friz of Plochingen, who became a joint owner along with Eugen Märklin

Märklin had caused a stir at the Leipzig Spring Fair by putting on show a clock-work-driven train that ran on rails. True, there had already been toy trains which ran on their own tracks. Märklin's success lay in the novelty of offering a whole layout system which could be added to piece by piece and with rails of a gauge which enabled a degree of standardization - an idea which other manufacturers soon latched onto.

A printed catalogue from 1895 still clearly shows a preponderance of traditional Märklin products - that is "Equipment for children's kitchens etc.". Five years later the range of railroad and other technical toy products had greatly broadened. Already in those days stress was being placed on a generous choice of accessories - something kept for decades- This broad choice has proved a major reason behind the world wide popularity of the Märklin railroad.

The business's rapid expansion meant that it had to move in 1895 into larger premises -Marktgasse 21. Five years later these had already proved too small and so a new building with 6,000 square meters of floor space on the various stories was built in Stuttgarter Strasse. The company moved in to the new facilities in 1900. The high investment needed to increase production meant more capital had to be pumped into the firm. Thus, on May 1st 1907, Richard Safft came as a further partner to the company which, from 1908, traded under the name "Märklin Bros. & Cie".