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Anchor Stone Blocks (German : Anker-Steinbaukasten) are components of stone construction sets made in Rudolstadt, Germany, marketed as a construction toy.
Anchor Stone pieces are made of a mixture of quartz sand, chalk, and linseed oil (German Patent 13,770; US Patent 233,780), precisely pressed in molds so that they fit together perfectly. The stones come in three colors in imitation of the red brick, tan limestone, and blue slate of European buildings.[ citation needed ] They are not recommended for play by children under 3 years of age because of their small size (CE No. 0494).
Anchor stones originated with the wooden building blocks designed by Friedrich Fröbel, the creator of the Kindergarten system of education. He had observed how children enjoyed playing with geometrically-shaped blocks. [1]
The first Anchor Stone was produced when Otto Lilienthal and his brother Gustav decided to make a model of a stone building, using miniature blocks of stone.[ when? ] To this end, they started production of a limited number of blocks, made of a mixture of quartz sand, chalk, and linseed oil.[ citation needed ] Unfortunately, the Lilienthals, though brilliant inventors, had limited commercial success.
The stone blocks saw little popularity until 1880, when Friedrich Adolf Richter, a wealthy businessman who had built a small empire in Rudolstadt, purchased the rights to the process for 1,000 marks, plus about 4800 marks (including 800 marks still owing) for the tooling and machines being used to produce them. He developed a series of sets of individually-packaged stones, which quickly became popular. Promoted by extensive advertising, 42,000 sets were sold in 1883. [2] In 1894, Richter applied his "Anchor" trademark to the Richter's Anchor Stone Building Sets (Richters Anker-Steinbaukasten). More than 600 different sets were produced over the multi-decade life of these sets; more than 1,000 stone shapes were made (CVA Stone Catalog). In 1910 Richter died, heralding the end of the first era for Anchor Stones. [3] [ citation needed ]
Although Anchor Stones survived World War I and World War II, the factory was included within Communist East Germany when the Iron Curtain divided Europe. In 1953, the company was nationalized as VEB Anker-Steinbaukasten, a state-owned company. In 1963, the production of the blocks was stopped. The trademark "Anker" was used by various toy companies in East Germany, none of which were related to the stone building set factory.
However, existing sets of old Anchor Stones remained very popular within the international community. In 1979, the Club van Ankervrienden ("Club of Anchor Friends") was founded in the Netherlands. Initially the membership was limited to Dutch members, but foreign members were admitted starting in 1983. Today[ when? ] the club has about 230 members. With the support of the Club of Anchor Friends, the state of Thuringia, and the European Union, Georg Plenge was able to resurrect the company as Anker Steinbaukasten GmbH. Production at the factory in Rudolstadt restarted 15 September 1994, [4] and new sets were sold to Club members in October 1994.
The new factory manufactures and sells all 15 of the sets in the main series (GK-NF) of Anchor sets as well as some sets modelling the Michaelis Basilika in Hildesheim and the Brandenburg Gate. They are widely available in Germany, including in the KaDeWe department store in Berlin, and are readily available online. A new series of sets for younger children called Die neue Steinzeit ("the new Stone Age") was introduced in 2012. The sets tend to be expensive, but high-quality; antique sets are just as playable now as when they were originally produced. Sets being produced today are made to the same specifications as the antique ones, so they can be easily integrated. [5] In addition to construction sets, the artificial stone formula has been used to produce simple flat puzzles, such as tangrams.
Scientists, engineers, and designers like Max Born, J. Robert Oppenheimer, Albert Einstein, Ivan Sutherland [6] and Walter Gropius developed their creativity by playing with Anchor blocks. [7] Anchor blocks have been exhibited in the Louvre and Deutsches Museum. They appear in a fairly prominent role in Jan Švankmajer's fantasy film Neco z Alenky as, among other things, the home of the White Rabbit. They also support a plot sequence in The Diamond in the Window, by Jane Langton. [8]
Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and start fires.
Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. Chalk is common throughout Western Europe, where deposits underlie parts of France, and steep cliffs are often seen where they meet the sea in places such as the Dover cliffs on the Kent coast of the English Channel.
Herford is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, located in the lowlands between the hill chains of the Wiehen Hills and the Teutoburg Forest. It is the capital of the district of Herford.
Putty is a material with high plasticity, similar in texture to clay or dough, typically used in domestic construction and repair as a sealant or filler. Although some types of putty slowly polymerise and become stiff, many putties can be reworked indefinitely, in contrast to other types of filler which typically set solid relatively rapidly.
Linoleum is a floor covering made from materials such as solidified linseed oil (linoxyn), pine resin, ground cork dust, sawdust, and mineral fillers such as calcium carbonate, most commonly on a burlap or canvas backing. Pigments are often added to the materials to create the desired colour finish. Commercially, the material has been largely replaced by sheet vinyl flooring, although in the UK this is often still referred to as lino.
Friedrich Wilhelm August Fröbel or Froebel was a German pedagogue, a student of Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, who laid the foundation for modern education based on the recognition that children have unique needs and capabilities. He created the concept of the kindergarten and coined the word, which soon entered the English language as well. He also developed the educational toys known as Froebel gifts.
The Froebel gifts are educational play materials for young children, originally designed by Friedrich Fröbel for the first kindergarten at Bad Blankenburg. Playing with Froebel gifts, singing, dancing, and growing plants were each important aspects of this child-centered approach to education. The series was later extended from the original six to at least ten sets of gifts.
Autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) is a lightweight, precast, cellular concrete building material, eco-friendly, suitable for producing concrete-like blocks. It is composed of quartz sand, calcined gypsum, lime, portland cement, water and aluminium powder. AAC products are cured under heat and pressure in an autoclave. Developed in the mid-1920s, AAC simultaneously provides structure, insulation, and fire- and mold-resistance. Forms include blocks, wall panels, floor and roof panels, cladding (façade) panels and lintels. AAC is a highly durable material that can last for many years without requiring maintenance. It is also an excellent insulator that can help reduce energy costs by keeping buildings cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Additionally, AAC is resistant to fire and mold, making it a safe choice for construction.
Sassnitz is a town on the Jasmund peninsula, Rügen Island, in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. The population as of 2012 was 9,498.
Rudolstadt is a town in the German federal state Thuringia, within the Thuringian Forest, to the southwest, and to Jena and Weimar to the north.
Bodenheim is a state-recognized tourism municipality (Fremdenverkehrsgemeinde) in the Mainz-Bingen district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
F. Ad. Richter & Cie was founded and owned by Friedrich Adolf Richter. This German manufacturer produced many products, including pharmaceuticals, music boxes, gramophones, and Anchor Stone building sets. He established his main factory in Rudolstadt, Germany. In addition, the company had factories in Vienna Austria, Nuremberg Germany, New York City USA, and St. Petersburg, Russia. In addition, the company had operations for internal supply in Konstein, Germany and Leipzig, Germany.
Artificial stone is a name for various synthetic stone products produced from the 18th century onward. Uses include statuary, architectural details, fencing and rails, building construction, civil engineering work, and industrial applications such as grindstones.
Chemtou or Chimtou was an ancient Roman-Berber town in northwestern Tunisia, located 20 km from the city of Jendouba near the Algerian frontier. It was known as Simitthu in antiquity.
The Royal Porcelain Factory in Berlin, also known as the Royal Porcelain Manufactory Berlin and whose products are generally called Berlin porcelain, was founded in 1763 by King Frederick II of Prussia. Its actual origins, however, lie in three private enterprises which, under crown patronage, were trying to establish the production of "white gold" in Berlin from the mid-18th century onwards.
Gustav Lilienthal was a German social reformer, a pioneer in building and construction technology, inventor of different Construction sets and involved in the pioneering work of his brother, Otto Lilienthal in aviation.
Events in the year 1893 in Germany.
Volkstedt porcelain manufactory sited in Rudolstadt, Thuringia, Germany, was the earliest porcelain manufactory in Thuringia. It was in business as Aelteste Volkstedter Porzellanmanufaktur, the "Oldest Volkstedt Porcelain Manufactory", which was integrated into the VEB Vereinigte Zierporzellanwerke Lichte, which in turn formed part of the Kombinat Feinkeramik Kahla.
Weimar Porzellanmanufaktur, or Weimar Porzellan is a German company that has been manufacturing porcelain in Weimar since 1790.
Martin Gottlieb Klauer was a German sculptor, and one of the first teachers at the Weimar Princely Free Drawing School.
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