Kassel 2011
The 15th biannual "Sammlertreffen" was held at Kassel's Philipp-Scheidemann-Haus on May 28, 2011.
Photos by Harald Scheel, Ulrich Rudofsky, John Olsen and Charles Jones
General view of the main hall
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Most visitors lodged at the Waldhotel Schaefferberg a short distance outside Kassel, where guests met over drinks in the patio upon arrival on Friday and later attended the traditional welcome dinner in the hotel's Dining Room.
Paul Jacobs and Egbert Kraus discuss the latest Neptun Dinner at the Schaefferberg.
and Saratoga releases.
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Sellers began arriving at the Philipp-Scheidemann Haus in downtown Kassel before 8:00 Saturday morning to set up, and all was ready for the crowd of collectors and visitors when the doors opened at 10:00.
View from the stage behind the Breustedt and Marquardt tables.
Ludia and Lilo at the Wiedling tables. Lilo Wiedling.
Michael Reiss of Mike's Modelle. Bernd Schwarz presides over the Galerie Maritim tables.
Matti and Norbert Broecher (Rhenania and Jr.) with Chris Norbert Broecher.
Daley (center) of 1250Ships.
Paper ship modeler Heinz-Peter Weiss. Some of H.P. Weiss' paper masterpieces.
Artists in1250 scale: Roland Klinger... ...and Wilhelm Tuemmler.
Juergen Streich of H&B Modelle. Chris Daley discusses the new Argos George Washington
with Carin Schwarz, who represened Jeorg Uter.
Peter Krtina of Hai... ...was ably assisted by his wife Hilde.
Julia and Sean Pritchard discuss Seavee with Bob Wiringa. Tom Vargas buys the last Seavee
model from Julia.
Dave Love of Mountford, one of a large UK contingent. Some of Mountford's offerings.
Martin Brown of MB Models. The Clydeside and Triang corner
Matti & Norbert Broecher with Harald Scheel. Rick Richmond pretends to be the master modeler
while tending shop for Chris Daley.
Michael Reiss and Carlo Marquardt discuss the show. Hilde and Peter Krtina with a Hai customer.
Peter Van Staalduinen concludes a sale with Martina The Youngermans' Kassel debut.
Maertins of Oliver's Welt.
Ebay sellers Wilfred and Christel Roschwig offered a large assortment of Peter Van Staalduinen at his table.
second-hand models.
Joachim Thiel's models occupied most of one of the three Peter Chudziak had a corner all to himself.
second-hand model rooms.
Bob Wiringa was one of several US collectors looking for Ulrich Rudofsky with H.P. Weiss.
second-hand bargains.
The end of a long day: Carlo and Manuela Marquardt... ...and daughter Jessika.
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Many SMSC members were in attendance, including a group of seven led by Harald Scheel, who made an extensive tour of various maritime sites in Germany and the Netherlands. Other collectors and their family members joined the group from time to time as travel plans allowed. The following account by Harald is compiled from his posts on the 1250scale site.
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Wednesday, May 25 was the first day of our tour. We had a great start. First stop: Navis / Neptun.
Our hosts Rudi and Egbert Kraus showed us the entire production, which is being accomplished in a relative small space. The showroom with the model display is very nice and spacious.
The group relaxes in the Navis-Neptun reception room. N-N founder Rudi Kraus.
Viewing the Kraus collection at Navis-Neptun. Part of the Kraus collection.
Peter Chuldziak. The harbor diorama was the central feature in the N-N
Reception Room.
Egbert Kraus shows a laptop "master" of HMS Courageous to Rick Rudofsky. "Spider Navy" artist Johann Otman.
A newly cast model sample. A sample primed model.
Assembling and painting the models. Some models ready for assembly.
* * *
From there, we went to Lilo & Peter Wiedling. Grünwald, Munich is a beautiful area with nice houses. The Wiedling villa fits right in. But the basement is the important area for us: model storage, packing, shipping and a spectacular model display. My pictures cannot reproduce this beautiful environment:
  Peter Wiedling meets the group at Gruenwald. The nerve center of L. Wiedling Spielwaren.
The Wiedling Collection occupies one end of the basement. Peter Wiedling's Stauffenberg collection.
One of Peter Wiedling's showcases. Ulrich Rudofsky surrounded by Wiedling models.
* * *
Lilo, Ludia and Peter Wiedling treated us like we were royalty: Weisswurst-a Bavarian specialty.
The group enjoys lunch at the Wiedlings'.
* * *
Dr. Hjalmar Heinen was instrumental in planning our schedule for Munich. After our lunch at Wiedling's, he took us for a tour of 3 churches and cloisters in the area-you will see from the pictures, how impressive all 3 are.
* * *
In the evening, a few people of the Munich Club came to our hotel for a casual get together and dinner.
What a great day, what a great start for our tour. I would like to thank everyone for their hospitality, time and help. To summarize a discussion I had with Peter Wiedling: our hobby has so many nice people. It's not only the beautiful models, it's the camaraderie of an exceptional group of collectors.
* * *
We started our Thursday (May 26) in Schwab München: the studio of Rodkling--Roland Klinger. In addition to the very elaborate ship dioramas, Roland is also an artist that paints beautiful ship pictures, as well as portraits and flowers. you can see it all in these pictures:
Roland Klinger (L) with the group, which now included Hjalmar Heinen and One of Roland Klinger's display cases.
Klaus Grams (on right)
Photographing the Klinger dioramas. Many of Roland's models are displayed in realistic
diorama settings.
A trademark RODKLING hammerhead crane. Roland shows off his prints.
* * *
Roland Klinger is also involved with the history of Augsburg, especially the Fuggers and the Welser families. We visited a Mercateum in the shape of a globe.
Outside the Mercateum. A guide explains one of the antique world maps.
* * *
Our last stop of the day was totally unrelated to ship models: Würzburg, a Franken Wein tour: 10 people, 14 bottles of wine.
Beautiful Wurzburg Castle overlooking the Main. Dinner and 14 bottles of wine at the Juliusspital.
* * *
Friday/Saturday (May 27/28)
Here are my Kassel pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/haraldchen96/2011May28Kassel#
Since this was my first visit to Kassel, I cannot make any comparisons. But Kassel and 1250 is huge. One big room for the manufacturers, and 3 rooms for the second hand dealers.
A few manufacturing friends commented that overall attendance was down, but business was even to slightly up. They also noticed more younger buyers. I hope that this is not only wishful thinking.
Among those joining the group at Kassel was Paul Jacobs.
* * *
After a leisurely breakfast, we left Kassel on Sunday (May 29) morning and drove to Hamburg. Sunday afternoon, we visited the Schulauer Fährhaus, where all the passing ships entering or leaving Hamburg are greeted by the National Anthem of the registry of the ship. The greeting captain also announces technical details about the ship. My friend since 2. grade, Eckart Bolte, had arranged to be the greeting captain that Sunday. Therefore, we all got a special tour of the greeting station, and for the first time ever, some of his announcements were made in English for our group.
Eckart used to manufacture cruise ships and ferries under the Holsatia name. Unfortunately, he has discontinued this production.
Breakfast at the Schaefferberg: the Group is joined by Paul & Renee Jacobs, Martina Maertins, Tom Vargas, Egbert Kraus,
Hjalmar Heinen, and Peter & Hilde Krtina among others.
The group arrives at Schulau. Watching the ships pass by.
One of the many commercial ships entering Hamburg's port. The historic icebreaker Stettin.
"Captain" Eckart Bolte The view from the "bridge".
All the national anthems are on casettes that are The group and Hamburg guests enjoy dessert at the Schulau cafe:
played as the ships pass. (front: Carlo Marquardt, Harald Scheel, Manuela Marquardt;
rear: Jessika Marquardt, John Olsen, Hjalmar Heinen, Jenny Olsen)
* * *
On Monday (May 30) morning, we went to the Miniature Wunderland--it's truly a wonderland of very realistic and detailed railroad displays. The newest addition is a fully functional airport.
Waiting to get in. Hamburg in miniature.
Crowds of little people everywhere. Big people are kept at a safe distance.
Egbert Kraus photographing the stadium. The stadium at night.
Watching the planes land at the Flughafen. Eckhart Bolte out of uniform.
Eckhart Bolte and Carlo Marquardt. The computerized command center.
* * *
After a 2 hour city bus tour in an open double decker bus, we proceeded to Galerie Maritime, Fuchs and Wede. Fuchs is discontinuing the sale of 1250 models--some of us got a few great bargains.
Arrival at Galerie Maritim. Window shopping.
Bob Wiringa lost in shipland. Bernd and Birgit Schwarz did a brisk business.
John Olsen and Birgit Schwarz. Egbert Kraus and Rick Richmond at Wede.
* * *
In Hamburg, our group of 7 had grown to 22. Manuela & Carlo Marquardt were extremely helpful in planning and executing our Hamburg visit. I would like to thank them again for all their valuable help and advice.
Dinner on Monday was at the Johann Albrecht Brauhaus, truly enjoyed by everyone.
Toasting Manuela Marquardt's birthday at the Albrecht Brauhaus. The Birthday Girl with her cake.
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Tuesday (May 31) Our Hamburg hosts, Manuela & Carlo Marquart (CM) had recommended to get to the Maritime Museum as early as possible: it opens at 10:00AM. In Hamburg, our group had grown to 20, so we needed several cars in addition to our 9 seat transporter. Parking was OK, despite construction going on in the area.
Hamburg Maritime Museum,the new home of the Tamm Collection. Our guide, Carlo Marquardt.
For us 1250 fans, the 9th deck is the most important. More than 30000 1250 models are displayed. At times, it is overwhelming.
A small part of the Tamm 1/1250 collection. Paul and Renee Jacobs with Paul's new book prominently displayed.
John Olsen and Bob Wiringa examining the models. The Battle of the Nile was featured in one of several dioramas.
Our host and tour guide, Carlo Marquart, has created an excellent display of how a 1250 model is produced, from the first idea, photos, plans to the creation of a detailed master. This master is transformed into a rubber/silicone mould, into which the liquid, hot metal is poured. Carlo's display shows in exact detail all the steps necessary to clean the casted model, add more details and finally prime and paint.
Carlo Marquardt's display. Carlo explains the process.
The latex mold for Queen Mary II. The process is followed step by step.
This display alone is worth a visit to the Maritime Museum. But, of course, there is much more. This is the most comprehensive collection of 1250 models anywhere in the world. We had scheduled approx 5 hours for the museum, with a 1/2 hour break in between. Quite a few members of our group spent most of this time on the 9th deck.
From my pictures, you can see that with the expert guidance from Carlo, I tried to cover as much of the other floors as possible. If you want to see most of it, you will need several days. Therefore, a return visit will be important.
It's all there- liners... commercial ships...
warships... Admiral Tirpitz...
swords... hats...
silver trophies... ...and Lego.
In 2004, I visited the Tamm display as part of a group in the former "hotel" on the Elbchaussee. There, the magnificent display was cramped, and you were only allowed to move around with a tour guide, no photography.
The 9 deck facility in the Speicherstadt is spacious, beautiful wooden floors, large rooms with high ceilings--and no flash photography is allowed. As always, I took way too many pictures, and some of my photos are not quite sharp, because of the low light. I decided to leave them in the Picasa album to show as complete an overall picture as possible:
The museum store on the ground floor has a very nice selection of merchandize. There are several Revell kits in 1200 that also include glue, paint and a small paint brush-a great start for a novice. I had never seen these complete kits before.
CM has a nice selection of "colored" ships for sale, several of them priced very low, to attract new collectors: for example, Titanic for Euro 37.00. There is some opposition to selling models of warships here. But a few Neptun models are available-hopefully more will be added.
Gift Shop offerings...
This museum is a "must see" for anyone interested in ships, navies and the sea.
We had hoped to meet Mr. Peter Tamm, but unfortunately a scheduled vacation prevented this meeting. I would like to thank Mr. Tamm this way for his great contribution to our hobby.
I would also like to thank Manuela, Jessica & Carlo Marquart for helping with the planning and execution of the Hamburg portion of our group tour. Their expertize and willingness to spend all 3 days together with us in Hamburg, right after the long days of Kassel, made our Hamburg visit nothing short of perfect.
* * *
After the museum visit, we did the Hamburg Harbor Tour. Because of some rain, we selected a larger, covered tour boat. During the boat ride, the rain disappeared, and we were able to see a lot, as my pictures will prove.
 
On the boat. Hamburg skyline.
Antique steamer Scharhorn. The container port.
* * *
Dinner at the Copper House in St. Pauli was also excellent: a sumptuous variety of Asian foods in a modern environment, very reasonably priced.
The Copper House crowd. Harald Scheel and the Marquardts.
* * *
After our 3 fantastic days in Hamburg, we got an early start on Wednesday, June 1, for a fully scheduled day.
About 9:00AM, we pulled into the yard of the Möwen Verlag (Wilhelmshavener Modellbaubogen). In the early 60's, our group of navy friends had gotten it's start by building these paper ships in 1:250, and developed a navy game using these big ships, later to be replaced by the 1250's from Wiking, Eagle, Hansa & Delphin.
The owner of the Möwen Verlag, Siegfried Wolter, greeted us with welcome coffee (German & American), tea and those good German wafer cookies.
The group arrives at Moewen Verlag. Paper ships fill a paper harbor.
Some of Moewen Verlag's range of naval ships. Buildings, vehicles, animals and birds are also available.
* * *
Peter Chudziak with the Arizona model
While paper models are not very popular in the US, this ARIZONA sold 40 copies in the last 3 months. I am sure it helps that a lot of Japanese visitors come to this Memorial.
* * *
After our coffee break, and selecting a few projects for the future, we drove to the Wilhelmshaven ship museum, displaying the Mölders, Weilheim and U10. Unfortunately, our tight schedule did not allow for much time to explore these museum ships.
The Kaiser Wilhelm suspension bridge. Museum ship Moelders.
* * *
At 2:45PM, we had to be in Papenburg for an English guided tour of the Meyer Werft (Ship Yard). In approaching Papenburg, we could see from a distance the almost finished Celebrity SILHOUETTE, one of the largest cruise ships ever built in this ship yard, which is 60 miles inland, along the river Ems. From here, the newly built ships have to "ride through the meadows" to reach the North Sea.
On our tour, we learned that the ship yard has enough orders through the end of 2015.
Arrival at Papenburg. The tour begins at a model of the shipyard.
Fitting out the Celebrity Silhouette. The latest Disney cruise liner.
Aida cruise ships building side by side. The nearly finished Celebrity Silhouette.
* * *
Our journey went on to Peter's (Chudziak) and my home town: Lingen, just 45 minutes south of Papenburg.
Peter had organized a 40 minute boat ride to a restaurant at the waterfalls--yes, there is a waterfall in Lingen. We enjoyed a German Spargel (white asparagus) dinner.
Boarding the boat. Dinner...
...and finally arrival at the Chudziak's. The models beckon...
...and Tom Vargas is trapped! Part of Peter's library.
One of many model cases... ...and another.
* * *
It was a long day, fully scheduled, but not hectic. It would have been nice to spend more time everywhere, but...(next time)
The next morning, Ulla & Peter Chudziak served a sumptuous breakfast at their beautiful home. With our full stomachs, we took a 45 minute walking tour of downtown Lingen.
The Market Square. One of Lingen's streets.
* * *
Thursday, June 2: On our way to Bislich, we stopped in Münster to see, where Matti Bröcher produces all the wonderful Rhenania Jr models, and many, many more. Our first impression: how can he be producing all this in such a small room. But the output is perfect:
Matti's work bench. Norbert's collections.
* * *
In Bislich, Norbert Bröcher (Rhenania) was waiting for us with coffee, tea and homemade cake. After a 1 1/2 hour discussion of the state of the 1250 hobby (quite interesting, when switching back and forth between German and English), Norbert had prepared a special presentation about the local area: In March of 1945, this area was the battle field for Operation Varsity, where the 9th US Army and the 17th US Airborne crossed the river Rhine successfully. Among all other resources, they used 1300 gliders for this mission.
Norbert showed us on maps and in books the local areas and buildings from this time, and then we took a 1 hour car tour of the actual area today. If I would have been driving through, without Norbert's guidance, I would have never imagined all that took place here.
As a surprise, Norbert had rushed a limited production of the Waco gliders in 1250, and we all got 2 models as a visitor present.
 
Operation Varsity. Viewing the Rhine.
* * *
For dinner, we went to the Fährhaus, overlooking the Rhine, with great food (and deserts), thus concluding another very interesting and informative day.
Faehrhaus on the Rhine. Rob Tas, Norbert Broecher and Tom Vargas.
* * *
Friday, June 3: Bislich to Amsterdam is only a 90 minute trip. So we got to Amsterdam early and checked into another beautiful, but reasonably priced hotel at the outskirts: Hotel Casa 400.
After an unplanned tour of downtown Amsterdam (too much construction sent our GPS into a circle), we visited the Rijksmuseum with its beautiful display of historical paintings.
For dinner we met Peter and Mariana van Staalduinen at Pasta & Basta. Great Italian dishes, and the wait staff doubles as singing entertainment. From there, we took a candlelight grachten tour with wine & cheese.
Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum. Pasta & Basta.
Gratchen tour- Amsterdam's canals. The only way to travel!
* * *
Saturday, June 4: Every 1st. Saturday of the month, the Dutch Ship Collector Club (DSCC) meets in a restaurant at the site, where the DELFT is being rebuilt, in Rotterdam. The DSCC Chairman, Peter van Stalduinen, had invited us to join them for the June meeting, and that led eventually to him and Rob Tas joining our SMSC European tour.
The DSCC has an interesting core group of members, and we enjoyed being part of the proceedings.
At the Dutch Collector's Club meeting. Rick Rudofsky and Dutch dealer Willem Schoenmaekers.
The meeting adjourns... ...and the Delft tour begins.
* * *
The DELFT is being built, just like 200 years ago. The oak wood has to be cut out of trees that have grown "bent". Construction started in 2003, and will probably take another 10+ years to complete.
The Delft taking shape. Setting up the ribs.
Carved work ready for installation. The "Gouden Leeuw" figurehead.
* * *
After a typical Dutch lunch courtesy of the DSCC, we went to AllOnScale - Exact Exceptional Model Building. Here they produce beautiful ship models in large scale, down to 1:1000. I think discussions are on the way for a 1250 model.
Lunch with the laptop. Liner Rotterdam at AllOnScale.
* * *
For the finish of our trip, Peter van Staalduinen had promised us an Indonesian buffet, prepared by himself in his nice house in Purmerend, near Amsterdam. He surprised us all with an exceptional selection of traditional foods-I have been to Indonesia many times, so I know. Thank you, Mariana & Peter, for making the conclusion of our trip another highlight.
Peter also has a very interesting collection of 1250 models. He got started with Triang, and now he has an almost complete set of Nordzee's.
The group arrives at Purmerend. Master chef Peter VanStaalduinen.
Part of Peter's collection. The other Peter inspects the Noordzees.
The Noordzee shelf. Peter and Mariana get a chance to relax!
* * *
Our tour was perfect in every aspect: a great group of collectors experiencing new highlights every day for 12 days. Our local hosts everywhere were fantastic. They helped with the planning of the trip--1 year in the making. They were gracious hosts that helped along every step of the way. They took the time to be with us all day.
* * *
Our trip was centered around Kassel, and for some of us, this was the first Kassel experience. And what a great experience that is. I definitely want to do that again.
Ulrich Rudofsky, who accompanied the group, has compiled his own photo supplements to the Tour:
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