Advertisements
Anchor Blocks
Anchor Blocks

German System of Building Blocks

Anchor Blocks were a German system of building blocks that were popular as a children’s construction toy in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, notably in Europe. Dr F. Ad. Richter in Rudolstadt, Germany, began developing and manufacturing the system in 1879. The concept was based on the FROEBEL block system, which significantly impacted Frank Lloyd WRIGHT’s design philosophy.

AIGA Design Conference

Precisely engineered

Anchor blocks were built of a manufactured “stone” that was heavy and exact in form, allowing for massive, complex structures. The blocks were based on a one-inch-wide modular cube that could be broken into smaller units (down to quarter-inch dimensions) and multiplied into larger proportions up to around five inches. Brick red, cream, and slate blue were used to create cylindrical, triangular, pyramidal, and arch-shaped blocks. The blocks were packaged in elegant wooden boxes and sold in sets. The most basic bundle included a book with simple designs for “buildings” ideal for young children. Larger and more sophisticated sets could be added as supplements, each with a book of plans for more complex buildings, progressing to highly complex structures requiring adult-level plan reading and physical coordination.

Anchor Stone Palace
Anchor Stone Palace

For many years, such building sets were trendy toys, and many imitations were made in wood and “stone.” Richter founded a New York division and developed his method under the name Union blocks shortly after World War I when anything German was rejected in the United States.

It’s worth noting that Charles and Ray Eames used anchor blocks as props in several of their films and as backgrounds for some of their advertising designs. Anchor block sets in good condition are becoming increasingly rare and valuable collector’s pieces.

Sources

Pile, J. F. (1990). Dictionary of 20th-century design. Facts on File.

Advertisements

Design History – Amazon

* This website may contain affiliate links, and I may earn a small commission when you click on links at no additional cost.  As an Amazon and Sovrn affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

More German Design

  • Otl Aicher (1922 – 1991), German industrial and graphic designer

    Otl Aicher (1922 – 1991), German industrial and graphic designer

    From 1946 to 1947, Otl Aicher (1922 – 1991) attended the Munich Academy of Fine Arts. He later became closely affiliated with Ulm’s highly influential and radical Hochschule Für Gestaltung after founding a studio there the following year.Read More →


    LEARN MORE →

  • Hans Poelzig (1869-1936), German architect and designer

    Hans Poelzig (1869-1936), German architect and designer

    Hans Poelzig (1869-1936) was a German architect and designer who studied at Technische Hochschule, Berlin Charlottenburg and Technische Hocschule, Berlin. He worked in Breslau, Dresden, Preussiche Akademie der Kiinste in Berlin, and became a professor at the Technische Hochschule in Berlin Charlottenburg. He was influenced by Expressionism, Reinhardt’s Schumann Circus, and the Grosses Schauspielhaus in…


    LEARN MORE →

  • Novembergruppe (1919) – German Radical Artists Group

    Novembergruppe (1919) – German Radical Artists Group

    Novembergruppe 1918 was a German artists and architects’ group established in 1918 in Berlin. It was described as radical in its use of new expressive techniques and rejection of earlier forms of expression. Members included Hans Eisler, Walter Gropius, Hugo Häring, Ludwig Hilberseimer, Hans and Wassili Luckhardt, Erich Mendelsohn, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Bruno…


    LEARN MORE →

  • Jugendstil: An Exploration of an Artistic Style

    Jugendstil: An Exploration of an Artistic Style

    Jugendstil, an artistic style that originated around the mid-1890s in Germany and persisted throughout the first decade of the 20th century. READ MORRead More →


    LEARN MORE →

  • Adolf Amberg (1874 – 1913), Designer of Exotic Figurines

    Adolf Amberg (1874 – 1913), Designer of Exotic Figurines

    Adolf Amberg was a German sculptor and designer who designed ornamental objects and silverware for the Bruckmann & Sohn factory and Berlin porcelain factory.Read More →


    LEARN MORE →

  • Lilly Reich (1885 – 1947)  – German Interior Designer

    Lilly Reich (1885 – 1947) – German Interior Designer

    Lilly Reich was a German interior designer and furniture and exhibition designer who studied embroidery and collaborated with Else Oppler-Legband. Reich’s professional relationship with Mies van der Rohe began with the 1927 ‘Weissenhof-Siedlung’ exhibition, and she designed interiors and furniture for the 1936 of Dr Facius in Berlin-Dahlem and 1939 furniture for Dr Schäppi’s apartment…


    LEARN MORE →

  • Walter Gropius (1883 – 1969) is the history of modern architecture

    Walter Gropius (1883 – 1969) is the history of modern architecture

    Walter Gropius (1883 – 1969) was an architect born in Germany in the early twentieth century who contributed to the founding of the Bauhaus School. He lived in the United States after 1937 and taught at Harvard University, where he continued to defend the principles of Bauhaus, especially the use of functional materials and clean…


    LEARN MORE →

  • Anchor Blocks – 19th Century construction toy

    Anchor Blocks – 19th Century construction toy

    Anchor Blocks were a German system of building blocks that were popular as a children’s construction toy in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, notably in Europe. Dr F. Ad. Richter in Rudolstadt, Germany, began developing and manufacturing the system in 1879. The concept was based on the FROEBEL block system, which significantly impacted…


    LEARN MORE →

  • Peter Behrens (1868 – 1940) – German architect/designer

    Peter Behrens (1868 – 1940) – German architect/designer

    Peter Brehens (1868 – 1940) was a German graphic artist, architect and designer. He studied at the Karlsruhe and in Düsseldorf and Munich.Read More →


    LEARN MORE →

  • Peter Behrens (1868 – 1940) – German architect and designer

    Peter Behrens (1868 – 1940) – German architect and designer

    Peter Brehens (1868 – 1940) was a German graphic artist, architect and designer. He studied at the Karlsruhe and in Düsseldorf and Munich.Read More →


    LEARN MORE →

  • AEG – German Lighting Firm – Est. 1883

    AEG – German Lighting Firm – Est. 1883

    Engineer Emil Rathenau founded AEG as the Deutsche Edison Gesellschaft für angewandte Elektrizitäts (DEG) two years after seeing Edison’s lighting at the Paris Exposition Internationale de l’Electricité in 1881.Read More →


    LEARN MORE →

  • Ingo Maurer (1932 – 2019) – industrial designer – Poet of Light

    Ingo Maurer (1932 – 2019) – industrial designer – Poet of Light

    Ingo Maurer was a German industrial designer who specialised in the development of lighting fixtures and installations. “Poet of Light” was his nickname.Read More →


    LEARN MORE →

  • Margaret Leischner (1908 – 1970) German textile designer

    Margaret Leischner (1908 – 1970) German textile designer

    She began teaching weaving at the Bauhaus in 1931. She worked at the Dresdener Deutsche Werkstatten in 1931, designing woven textiles, and was the head of the weaving department at the Berlin Modeschule from 1932 to 1936. She worked as the head designer for Gateshead, a British fabric manufacturer.Read More →


    LEARN MORE →

  • Friedrich Adler (1878 – 1942), German sculptor and designer

    Friedrich Adler (1878 – 1942), German sculptor and designer

    First designer to work with bakelite Friedrich Adler (1878 – 1942) was a German designer, educator, and artist. He was well-known for his work in the Art Nouveau and Art Deco genres of metals design. He was also the first to employ bakelite in his designs. He created his designs with a wide range of…


    LEARN MORE →

  • Million Mark Note – Design Classic

    Million Mark Note – Design Classic

    The Bauhaus was the most well-known design school of the 20th century. Herbert Bayer created notes in denominations of one million, two million, and two billion. The designs exemplify the ideology of hardline Modern Movement graphics.Read More →


    LEARN MORE →

  • Herbert Bayer (1900 – 1985) – Universal Typeface – Bauhaus Master

    Herbert Bayer (1900 – 1985) – Universal Typeface – Bauhaus Master

    The universal typeface, 1925, was a geometric alphabet based on bar and circle and was designed by Herbert Bayer. READ MORERead More →


    LEARN MORE →

  • Deutscher Werkbund German artistic and production association

    Deutscher Werkbund German artistic and production association

    The organisation, Deutscher Werkund was founded in Munich (1907) to improve products’ design through the joint efforts of artists, craftsmen, and manufacturers: its leading lights were Behrens, Theodor Fischer, Hermann Muthesius and Fritz Schumacher.Read More →


    LEARN MORE →

  • Arzberg Porcelain – prestigious German design

    Arzberg Porcelain – prestigious German design

    Arzberg is regarded as one of the most prestigious porcelain design houses in the world. The definition of good design. Arzberg combines aesthetics, functionality, and durability.Read More →


    LEARN MORE →

  • Frei Otto (1925 – 2015) German Architect designs that soared

    Frei Otto (1925 – 2015) German Architect designs that soared

    The late German architect Frei Otto’s work can be seen all over the world in pavilions and sports stadiums. His impact on the Olympics is huge, from the design of Rio’s Maracana stadium to the tent-like roofs he made for Munich in 1972. He influenced a generation of British architects, including Norman Foster, Michael Hopkins…


    LEARN MORE →

  • Hermann Junger (b.1928) Bauhaus influenced jewellery

    Hermann Junger (b.1928) Bauhaus influenced jewellery

    Hermann Junger was one of the best goldsmiths in Germany. His creative jewellery had a big impact not only in Germany, but also all over Europe and the U.S. He studied at the Staatliche Zeichenakademie, Hanau.Read More →


    LEARN MORE →

You may also be interested in

Arzberg Porcelain – prestigious German design

Arzberg is regarded as one of the most prestigious porcelain design houses in the world. The definition of good design. Arzberg combines aesthetics, functionality, and durability. Arzberg is the trademark of a German porcelain factory founded in Arzberg, Bavaria, in 1887.

FROGDESIGN (1969) German international design firm

Frogdesign is a global design studio with offices in Altensteig, Germany, Campbell, California (since 1982), and Tokyo (since 1986). Frogdesign was founded in 1969 by Hartmut Esslinger (the frog in the firm’s name is an acronym for the Federal Republic of Germany).

More design articles

❤️ Receive our newsletter

Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.