Marklin.com German manufacturer of model railroading equipment
Title
Märklin Trains
Description
In 1859, when tin smith Theodor Friedrich Wilhelm Märklin (1817-1866) made his decision to start producing doll's house accessories of lacquered tinplate, you can be sure he had no idea he was founding a firm of world renown. It's possible the idea came from his second wife Caroline (1826-1893), whom he had married the same year he made his fateful decision in the royal Württemberg borough of Göppingen, where he had lived since 1840. At any rate Caroline, a disciple of political economist Friedrich List, brought great energy and a brilliant talent for organization into building up the business. Just a few years later they had to move into bigger living and working premises because of demand for their products.
The death - in an accident - of the firm's founder in 1866 was a severe blow, and only the hard work and determination of his widow kept the company from collapse. She wanted to keep the business going for her three sons and so, for twenty years, she put up with extreme hardship. Caroline remarried in 1868, but the help she had hoped for in bearing the burden never came.
Unhappily for her, the children seemed to have no interest in the toy business. It was not until after the death of his stepfather that one of the sons, Eugen Märklin (1861-1947) picked up the threads - albeit only as a side-line, since he had a well-paid job elsewhere, as had his brothers. Finally though, on 1st March 1888, he decided with his brother Karl to found an unlimited trading company, and to incorporate their parents' business in this.
