Anchor Stone Blocks
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Richter's Anchor Stone Building Sets (German: Richter's Anker-Steinbaukasten) are stone building blocks made in Germany. They are known for being so precisely cut and polished that they fit together perfectly, much like LEGOs. They come in red, blue and tan, in imitation of the red brick, tan limestone, and blue slate of Southern European buildings. Due to their small size, they are not recommended for play by children under 3 years of age.
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[edit] History
[edit] Pre-History of the Anchor Stone
Anchor stones had their early beginning when wooden building blocks were invented in 1838 by Friedrich Froebel, a proponent of the kindergarten system, when he observed how much children (and adults) enjoyed viewing miniature models.
[edit] Beginnings of the Anchor Stone
The first true Anchor Stone was produced when Otto Lilienthal and his brother Gustav decided that to make a proper model of a stone building, the blocks themselves must be stone. To this end, they started production of a limited number of blocks, made of a mixture of quartz sand, chalk, and linseed oil. Unfortunately, the Lilienthals, though brilliant inventors, had limited commercial success. The stone blocks saw little popularity until 1880, when Friedrich A. Richter, a wealthy businessman who had build a small empire in Rudolstadt, purchased the rights to the stone for 1000 marks (about €510), along with the machines being used to produce them. He quickly developed a series of sets, individually packaged stones. In 1895, the "Anchor" design was trademarked, and a unique (for the time) advertising campaign helped to sell 40,000 sets, of which there were now over 400 with thousands of elements. In 1910 Richter died, heralding the end of an era for Anchor Stones.
[edit] End and Rebirth
Although Anchor Stones survived World War I and World War II, they were on the wrong side when the Iron Curtain slammed down on Europe. In 1963, the production of the blocks, perhaps because the cathedrals and palaces that could be built with them were seen as an ideological threat to the USSR, was stopped and replaced with production of an inferior plastic product. Anchor stones, however, remained very popular within the international community, so much so that in 1979 the "Club of Anchor Friends" was founded in Amsterdam, with over 180 members. By 1989, though, the Berlin Wall fell, hastening the decline of communism; by 1994, the Club of Anchor Friends was able to restore the company and the factory in Rudolstadt.
[edit] Anchor Today
Anchor Stones are now sold in roughly 10 sets, with hopes to make more if they sell successfully. They are known to be being sold in the KaDeWe department store in Berlin. They tend to be expensive, but high-quality; antique sets are just as playable now as when they were being produced. Also, antique sets are made to precisely the same specifications as the ones being produced today, meaning they can be easily integrated.
[edit] Miscellaneous
Anchor stones have been displayed in the Louvre and Deutsches Museum. They appear in a fairly major role in Jan Svankmajer's "Neco z Alenky" as (among other things) the home of the White Rabbit.
