Ralf Schnurbusch
50th Year Jubilee of the Wilhelmshavener Modellbaubogen
Wilhelmshavener Modellbaubogen is one of the oldest and most known publishing company for card models. For a lot of us the card modeling started with Wilhelmshavener Modellbaubogen (“Wilhelmshavener card models sheets”). The company is also known as Moewe Verlag. The Moewe (Seagull) is the registered trademark of Wilhelmshaven and you will find it printed on any of their models.
I remember myself as a boy standing in front of the window of a store in Germany looking amazed at a build Wilhelmshavener Model. I think it was the “Esso”. I will always remember the cabinet with drawers filled with card model sheets, which I like to look at all of them, before finally making a choice. After childhood we get usually very busy and forget this kind of things, but I have heard the stories of so many, who in later years find back to the same hobby. The tradition of Wilhelmshaven has here something special to offer: You can still find the models up to fifty years old now and I am sure you will find some out of your childhood. But how did it all began?
The History
Unofficial records date the Lehrmittelinstitut, a predecessor of Wilhelmshaven back to the 1940’s. This predecessor company was producing models for the army, who used it as visual training tool for recognition. But no official record exist to date back the founding of the company. So Wilhelmshaven is dating itself back to the first official record of 1953, which is the registration of the Lehrmittelinstitut.
It
began after the second World War in the the city of Wilhelmshaven, a
city in northwestern Germany, in the state of Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen)
on the Jadebusen (an arm of the North Sea). It is a major port for receiving
petroleum and contains industries producing machinery, office equipment, and
clothing. Wilhelmshaven is laid out on a strip of land that Prussia bought
from Oldenburg in 1853. The city was an important naval base from the 1870s
to the end of World War II. The city had always an important connection to
the navy.
In 1953 the “Lehrmittelinstitut Wilhelmshaven GmbH” was founded and started with production and publishing of card models for ships (1:250) and planes (1:50). Soon harbor scenes, sea markers, Christmas krips, cars, trains and a gasoline station were added. It was followed by the modeler magazine “Moewe”, which provided the reader with information about new releases, modeling tips and model reviews.
In the sixties the growth of card model building slowed down. Plastic model building made a strong competition to card models. In 1967 the Lehrmittelinstitut had to close it doors. Nearly the whole archive was lost in this time. In 1968 the „Jade Verlag“ was founded. Slowly new model were developed which was accompanied by critical observation and recommendation of the old fans, but the fascination remained. In 1988 another change, the Wilhelmshavener Modellbaubogen was purchased from the Moewe Verlag, but the lessons were learned from the past and it was guaranteed that the archive was not lost this time.
Wilhelmshaven Modellbaubogen today
After it seemed for a long time that the plastic models will forces card model out of the market, we find todays a renaissance of card modeling. Under the trade mark of the Moewe around 260 different models are available and the interest of the builders is growing.
The person who founded the Moewe Verlag in 1988 is Siegfried Wolter, who is managing the company since then. He is known to a lot of builders, especially in Germany.
Mr. Wolter, who after 40 years as professional officer in the army, was looking for an entrepreneurship after the retirement, found the opportunity to make his hobby as profession. After careful evaluation of the future perspective of this business segment, he decided in 1988 to purchase all goods and rights of the Jade Verlag and transfer it to the new Moewe Verlag. This step he has never regretted. The Moewe Verlag started with yearly sales of 80,000 DM and has increased it four time to now”.
One
of challenges of card modeling in Germany is change in the retail structure
of the market as the small stores carrying card models in my youth for example
have disappeared. I asked Mr Wolter how his distribution has changed overtime:
“The distribution have naturally changed over time. The small stores
more and more disappeared. Today we distribute 80 % of our products in larger
stores, book stores and direct mailing. The internet accounts for 10 % and
10 % we sell through our representation in the US. We also deliver 150 schools
in the German speaking area for working circles. Our customers come from all
ages and groups, from old to young, from worker to University professor.”
Today models of ships and planes are developed every year and a lot of old models are republished again. Every model kit includes detailed assembly instructions which include the name of each part and its part in the building process. The modeler therefore learns also the function of the different part. A technical info includes the history, technical details and the use of the original.
Attached to the office of the Moeve Verlag is also a small museum of card models. This is an attraction for visitor coming to Wilhelmshaven. So if you ever get there pay them a visit, it is worthwhile.
After the “Moewe Zeitung” disappeared for long this tradition was continued again in 1988 and is published four times a year for friends of the Moewe Verlag. In this edition of Cardmodel Online you will find also a translation of one article of the jubilee edition of the Moewe Magazin.
We wish the Wilhelmshavener Verlag all the best for the next fifty years.
For more Informationen about the Wilhelmshavener Verlag go to www.papermod.de.
