Ernst Ganzer

Ernst Ganzer (born December 29, 1903 in Hamburg ; † November 26, 1967 ibid) was a German model railway designer and freelance technology journalist who was intensively involved with the technical development of model railways , wrote numerous articles and manuals, and finally through the ERGA- Model building sheets became known.

Live and act

Ernst Ganzer came to Berlin in 1927 and initially lived in the Bavarian Quarter . At an early stage, he dealt with the development of model building sheets made of paper and cardboard and with the further technical development of the tinplate railways at that time. He was active in model construction and model railroad associations and organized model railroad exhibitions, among others in the Berlin department store Wertheim and in what was then the Haus der Technik (today's Kunsthaus Tacheles ). In many essays he described the prototypical design of model railroad vehicles and systems.

From 1937 he worked closely with the Nuremberg company TRIX and wrote the successful 1:90 manual of the TRIX railway company , which appeared in 21 editions by 1969. There he especially promoted realistic railway operations. He was also responsible for the customer magazine TRIX Express Dienst , in which the innovations were presented in detail.

In 1944 his apartment was destroyed in a bombing raid and many of his documents were lost. He lived in Berlin-Friedenau for the next six years. In the war and post-war years, in view of the scarcity of materials, he pursued the goal of developing model building sheets made of paper and cardboard for prototypical model railroad vehicles. In 1947 he founded the company ERGA Lehrmodelle Ganzer & Gaul for the production of these model building sheets, which were offered in model railway magazines (including in the Böttcher booklets ) and through Luise Herr's shop and mail order business .

In September 1950 he moved with his family to Hamburg, where he died in 1967.

Works

• How do I glue modeling sheets? Mainz: Jos. Scholz 1933

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Internet source: Ernst Ganzer - his work as a model railway pioneer 1926 - 1947 at www.trixstadt.de, accessed on June 24, 2013
2. ↑ Internet source: 1:90 TRIX Railway Operations Manual at www.trixstadt.de, accessed on June 24, 2013