Maker record
Einfalt (Technofix)
Gebrüder Einfalt was a toy maker based in Nuremberg, Germany, founded in 1922 and later associated with the Technofix name. Its products included tinplate wind-up and pull toys, race cars, trains, and other transport toys. After the Second World War, the firm made toys in West Germany, including a tinplate space rocket with a friction motor. Technofix also produced track toys such as the Moon Ride and Toboggan roller coaster. The original factory closed in 1978, although some toys continued to be made elsewhere using tools sold by the firm.
- Founded
- 1922
- Final year
- 1978
- Countries
- Germany
- Locations
- Nuremberg, Germany
- Founders
- Georg Einfalt · Johann Einfalt · Franz Heussinger
The story of Einfalt (Technofix)
Georg Einfalt developed toy designs in his spare time in 1919–20. In 1922, he and his brother Johann founded Gebrüder Einfalt GmbH in Nuremberg; Franz Heussinger joined as a partner. Early production focused on small giveaway and promotional toys. The Technofix name first appeared in 1926 on the Kosmos construction set. From 1930, the company made its own clockwork mechanisms, later supplementing them with mechanisms purchased from the Bühler firm as sales grew. Johann left the company in 1928, and Ernst Pretzfelder later became a partner.
Georg and his son Alfred Einfalt, with model maker Fritz Lober, developed the firm's technical toys. During the Second World War, production shifted to gas-mask filters. After the war, the factory resumed toy production and also made household goods in 1945. Its postwar toys reflected transport and space interests and used friction motors. The firm began using plastics, often combined with other materials, as toy manufacturing changed. In 1958 it opened a larger factory and office on Zweigstraße. Its named track toys included the Moon Ride, introduced in 1951, and the Toboggan roller coaster, introduced in 1958. After Georg's death in 1953, his sons Johann and Alfred became the firm's owners; Alfred led the technical side and Johann the commercial side. After Johann's death in 1974, Alfred ran the company until he retired and the factory closed in 1978. Some tools had been sold for continued production elsewhere, so the closure did not end all manufacture of Technofix-derived toys.