The aquarium filter that began with a model fountain

Eheim’s route from toys to aquariums ran through a miniature fountain. According to the company’s history, its 1962 centrifugal pump with magnetic coupling was originally developed to make a model fountain work realistically.

The small pump found uses beyond toys, including medical and laboratory equipment. Combining it with a cleaning container led to Eheim’s aquarium suction filter, and the first filter system entered series production in 1963.

Eheim had begun in 1949 with technical toys and model buses. Its familiar miniature trolleybuses belong to that earlier business, which the company discontinued in 1970.

The bus pictured here and an Eheim aquarium filter may seem to belong on entirely different shelves. Their maker’s engineering history connects them through a surprisingly small piece of equipment.