RS (Dr. Rudolf Spitaler)

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Trademarks of the company
Examples of RS houses
Examples of RS houses

" RS (Dr. Rudolf Spitaler) " was a manufacturer of model railway accessories based in Creglingen in the Main-Tauber district in Baden-Württemberg . In the 1950s, the company was a well-known brand name for model buildings for model railway systems of the H0 gauge .

history

From 1946, the chemist Rudolf Albin Waldemar Spitaler (* July 19, 1894 in Prague ; † August 22, 1960 in Bad Kissingen ), son of the Austrian climate researcher and university professor Rudolf Spitaler and younger brother of the tax lawyer Armin Spitaler , built model houses in Creglingen to match the Model railway track H0. He had house walls delivered to him by August Flor, who was also resident in the village, and his family, as, unlike Spitaler, he had the appropriate machines.

Spitaler marketed these products under its trademark "RS (Dr. Rudolf Spitaler)". Already at that time (mentioned in 1950) sales were carried out by the company " Kibri ". The RS houses looked extremely realistic, as the materials used, wood, cardboard and bird sand, made it possible to work in great detail. But Spitaler could not meet his payment obligations, which is why he had to give up in 1953 and forcibly leave the Creglingen company. Probably to escape his creditors, he left Creglingen and August Flor continued production there under the new brand name "Creglinger Modell-Spielwaren-Fabrik".

Spitaler "fled" over the nearby border into the Bavarian town of Winkels , today a district of Bad Kissingen, and registered his business there again in 1953 under his name. He also made model buildings here, probably also from home, which were again sold by the “Kibri” company. At that time Spitaler had three male and 73 female employees. However, the business was deregistered on December 31, 1956.

On January 1, 1957, the company was taken over by Walter Preh in nearby Bad Neustadt . Production continued under the name of "Rudolf Spitaler, owner Walter Preh" in Bad Kissingen until December 31, 1957, but from 1958 onwards, production began in Bad Neustadt.

Both Preh and Creglingen ceased production around 1960. Plastic had replaced the natural materials previously used. Both brands, "RS (Dr. Rudolf Spitaler)" and Creglinger, are coveted collectibles today, which are sold quite dearly. Some model houses from the company "RS (Dr. Rudolf Spitaler)" have been on display since December 2011 in the Bad Kissingen toy museum " Toy World ".

literature

  • Conrad antiquario (ed.): Dr. Rudolf Spitaler in Creglingen. Model making - Made in the US zone. Company history and model documentation from 1946 - 1953, ISBN 978-3-9818793-0-8

Web links

Commons : RS  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Months earlier, in April 1956, his daughter Inez Maria Spitaler (born March 25, 1930 in Mainz , † 2003 in Bad Brückenau ) had registered her own company for the production of toys at the same address. Whether this was an attempt to "rescue" her father's company or an independent company has not yet been determined. But this company was also deregistered on December 31, 1956.
  2. ↑ Information on the company's history was provided by the Culture Department of the City of Bad Kissingen