tradition

The exhibition "Experience Industrial Culture - Innovative Thuringia since 1800" in Pößneck, Germany includes Anchor Stone building sets (Anker Steinbaukasten) that were first developed in Rudolstadt in the 1880s and are the first building toy system in the world. As part of the program, the famous Dresden church, Frauenkirche, was built from Anchor Stone blocks using more than 2000 stones.

With a more than 125 year history there's bound to be interesting stories about people who became users and supporters of the product. In our case, we have the well documented use of Anker Steinbaukasten by Albert Einstein (1879-1955). Einstein famously said that "Imagination is more important than knowledge because knowledge is limited" and "I have no special talent, what I am is passionately curious."

The 1880 US patent for Anchor Stones states "the object is to produce toy building blocks which will always retain their shape and color, will not be dangerous to children, and will, by reason of their weight, better retain their position than if made of wood as usual." The result became Richter's Anchor Stone Building Sets (Richter's Anker-Steinbaukasten.) Stability, durability and natural all combine to make Anchor Stone building blocks the best blocks for children. But, you don't have to let the children have all the fun, because these blocks are also great for adults!