Maker record
Löhmann
Präzix-Erzeugnisse Alfred Löhmann was a German maker of model railway toys based in Stuttgart. Its best-known products were compact electric trains, including the Löhmann-Präzix narrow-gauge railway introduced in 1948. The locomotives and rolling stock were made of light-alloy die-cast metal, and the system used 12 mm track. After the firm’s 1949 bankruptcy, a successor company continued railway production under the Europa name.
- Founded
- 1811
- Countries
- Germany
- Founders
- Wilhelm Löhmann
The story of Löhmann
Präzix-Erzeugnisse Alfred Löhmann was founded in Stuttgart in 1947. Its business included technical precision toys, and its operating manager was engineer Gunther Eheim. At the 1948 Leipzig Toy Fair, the firm presented a narrow-gauge railway in nominal 00 scale for 12 mm track, designed for mass production. The initial range included a field railway diesel locomotive and open freight wagons; a diesel locomotive with passenger coaches followed in 1949. The models were made of light-alloy die-cast metal and used 16-volt alternating-current motors. The track system had a centre rail and two-rail electrical return, with early tin rails on wooden sleepers and a die-cast embankment track developed in 1949.
Artur Braun’s Waiblingen trading agency handled distribution. Löhmann went bankrupt in 1949. Packaging supplier Heinrich Watter and transformer maker Eugen Schnurr then established Europa Technische Spielwaren GmbH to maintain toy production, and Braun received the exclusive sales rights. Europa introduced a true TT railway in 1950 while the Löhmann-Präzix railway remained available. Europa itself went bankrupt in 1951; the receiver and Braun formed Nikolaus-Spielwarenvertrieb, which continued the railway range. Railway production and sales ended in 1954, although repair and spare-parts service reportedly continued until 1971.