Pola

Horst Pollak founded Pola in 1957, moving production to Schweinfurt, where the company made model railway scenery. In the early 1960s Pola began producing plastic building kits, including products made in cooperation with Vau-pe. Its range covered H0, TT, N and scale 2. In 1963 the company moved its headquarters and production to a former shoe factory in Rothhausen, where planning, manufacturing and offices were brought together. A larger production hall followed in the early 1970s.

Pola marked its 25th anniversary in 1982 with a limited series of H0 buildings. In 1983 it introduced its blue packaging and Meister models; its 1983/84 range also included the “Brennendes Finanzamt” kit. After Pollak died in 1985, Otto-Andreas Schrüfer took over the production program in 1986, and the company continued under the name Pola-Spiel-und Freizeitartikel GmbH. Faller acquired Pola’s brand rights and H0, N and G tooling on 1 February 1997, following Pola’s insolvency, and the Rothhausen factory closed that year. Faller incorporated some Pola kits into its own ranges. Pola-branded H0 and N kits ended by 2005, while the Pola G name continued for large-scale products.