The History of Anchor Blocks
1840
Friedrich Froebel, originator of the kindergarten, developed the first building block set made of wood. He recognized the value of geometrical shapes for the development of children's minds. His theory was that children’s minds would be exercised by relating a three dimensional structure to a two dimensional plan. The first sets of wooden blocks were not very well made and the resulting structures often collapsed due to the inaccuracy of manufacturing.
1875
As an alternative to the rather unstable wooden blocks, the brothers Otto and Gustav Lilienthal developed a method of manufacturing precisely shaped building blocks using quartz sand, powdered chalk and linseed oil.
Another educationalist living in the area at the time was Dr. Jan Georgens. Gustav Lilienthal was also an illustrator and illustrated one of Dr. Georgen’s books and developed some layouts for a series of “Georgens Toys”. This work gave him the idea of developing a new building block system with his brother Otto (who was an engineer and aviation pioneer, who died when his glider crashed, breaking his back.)
Dr Georgens introduced Gustav Lilienthal to the entrepreneur Friedrich Ad. Richter, who lived in Leipzig. (Richter published Dr. Georgen’s books and they also published a magazine together called “New Kindergarten”.)
1876
Friedrich Ad. Richter builds a factory complex for chemical-pharmaceutical products in Rudolstadt, Thuringia, East Germany. He rapidly became very wealthy largely as a result of sales of his “Pain Expeller” medicine.
1880
The genius of the Lilienthal brothers was substantially greater than their marketing talent. Deeply in debt, they sold their building block formula to the entrepreneur Friedrich Ad. Richter. He immediately took out a patent on the stone building blocks and started construction of a factory to make the blocks. Richter also established an “Art Department” where artists, illustrators and architects developed building plans for the Anker Stone Building Set.
1882
The factory for the production of “Richter’s Anker Stone Building Set” was finished in 1882. The first boxes of blocks were sold under the trademark label of a red squirrel.
1884
The first series with four different Stone Building Sets were put on the market and displayed at every possible exhibition. Within one year Richter proudly announced in his catalogue that the Anker Stone Building Set had won 15 gold medals.
1887
The first “Special Set” in honour of the 10th anniversary of the papacy of Pope Leo XIII was issued: Richter designed a model of the birth house of Pope Leo XIII consisting of 2608 stones.
1895
Thirteen years after their first appearance, with the introduction of the "New Series 1895", the squirrel trademark was replaced by an anchor (Anker in German.)
Richter’s unique advertising campaigns and commercials were new to this era and the new toy quickly became very popular. Soon more than 40,000 Anker Stone Building Sets were leaving the new factory in Rudolstadt. Subsidiaries and branch offices were established in Vienna, St. Petersburg, London and New York. Anker Stone Building Sets became synonymous with a creative and educationally valuable toy. A sophisticated extension and supplementation system provided an unlimited number of set variations. It was the world’s first systematic toy.
From the very beginning, the sets found favour with all ages. Many adults spent a lot of time with these colourful stone blocks, and some remained fascinated all their lives, like the famous architect Walter Gropius.
1900
As part of Richter’s tireless quest for publicity for his products, Richter gathered accolades from famous personalities, such as Thomas Edison and US President Cleveland.
1910
Friedrich Ad. Richter died in 1910. He left behind an empire with subsidiaries all over Europe and the United States all over Europe and the United States. The year of Richter’s death also marked the zenith of his company’s development. At this time his factory in Rudolstadt had 649 employees.
1919
At the end of World War I a small, selected group of German subsidiaries in the United States were not returned to their German owners, but were sold instead. These companies were thought of as important for Germany’s “potential to start another war.” The Americans actually considered Anker to be such a company. The reason: Anker Stone Building Blocks were considered to be a critically important factor in the development of the technical skills of Germany's youth.
1921
After long disputes with regards to the inheritance of Richter’s company, inflation following World War I finally led to the collapse of the company’s assets. The company was completely reorganized and divided into two public companies: F. Ad. Richter & Co Chemical Works and F. Ad. Richter & Co Block Factory.
1945
Production of Anchor Blocks continued until World War 2, at the end of which the factory found itself in the newly-formed Communist East Germany (GDR.)
1953
In the GDR the production of Anker Stone Building Sets continued at a new location in Rudolstadt as a “People’s Owned Enterprise” (VEB Anker-Steinbaukasten)
1963
The stones managed to survive both World Wars but production eventually ceased in 1963. The East German authorities decided to shut down the company “VEB Anker-Steinbaukasten” and the factory’s facilities were given away. Apart from a few boxes all the stones were given away for free. The rest were disposed of near the factory. Over the years, many well-preserved stones have been unearthed by Anker fans.
It is estimated that between 1880 and 1963 about 5 billion Anker Stones were sold worldwide. The “Anker” trademark was a huge international success. In all, Friedrich Ad. Richter developed about 400 different construction sets with an approximate total of 1200 different stone shapes.
1979
In Amsterdam the international Club of the Anker Friends (CVA) was founded.
This originally Dutch organization has now more than 250 members from the Netherlands and Germany as well as from Austria, Belgium, France, Great Britain, Switzerland, Denmark, Hungary, Chile and the USA. This club is an important organization which does a great deal of work to keep the history of the Anker Stone Building Set alive and to promote the product.
1995
Dr. George Plenge, a professor of acoustics and Anker enthusiast, began the project of reviving Anker Stone Building Blocks with some like-minded people. After extensive preparatory work which had already started in 1993 and financial aid from both the European Union and the state of Thuringia, the factory was reopened on 15th September 1995 under the name Anker Steinbaukasten GmbH. Anker Stone Building Sets were once again produced to the original plans. The first product to reappear on the market was Basic Set No. 6 and shortly afterwards the product line was extended to include Extension Sets 6A and 8A.
1995-2006
Production has continued unbroken since 1993, with the original sets being reissued at regular intervals. Each newly-reintroduced set requires major tooling to make the blocks required and so each set is a huge undertaking. The highest numbered set when production originally ceased was set 34A and the factory is up to set 26A at present (August 2006) so there is still a way to go to reintroduce all sets. In addition to the standard sets, the factory has also reintroduced 6 puzzles and a number of other sets such as mosaics and gift sets. Please see our products page for further details.
