Richter's Anchor Stone Building Sets

Richters Anker Steinbaukasten

Richter's Anchor Stone Building Sets (Richters Anker Steinbaukasten) were the most popular construction toy in the world from the early 1880s through W.W.I.  These building stones were made in Rudolstadt, Thuringia, Germany, (and at the company's branches in Vienna, New York and, possibly, St. Petersburg, Russia).  Starting in 1880, Richter's Anchor building stones were covered by international patents and trademarks.

Today, there are many collectors and builders of Anchor Stone Building Sets.  A number of them are members of the international Club of Anchor Friends (Club van Ankervrienden), a Dutch club with members from the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the USA.

Over 500 different Anchor Stone Building Sets were produced in a number of series.  In addition Richter offered other "stone" products such as puzzles and laying games.  Information on these building set series is provided.  People who would like to know more about a specific set, including value, or are only interested in additional general information are urged to contact George Hardy by e-mail at georgeh@ankerstein.org or AnkerStein@aol.com.  All e-mail questions will be answered, to the extent of my knowledge.

Please note that this home page is under constant revision.  New graphics, and perhaps additional text, will be uploaded once a month, as close to the first as possible.  So please plan to drop by monthly to see the new pictures.  In the (1.4M) space of my home page, I can provide only a limited view of the wonderful world of Richter's Anchor stones.

Other web sites with Anchor pictures and information:
         Lego on Long Island
         Kindergarten (in German).

For the month of October, 1996