Gottschalk Wooden Farm House & Lineol Elastolin Composite Barnyard Figures Set German Composite Farm Toy Set *SOLD*

Gottschalk Wooden Farm House & Lineol Elastolin Composite Barnyard Figures Set German Composite Farm Toy Set

This is a rare set of 1930’s hand-painted composite rooster, chicken, and barnyard figures manufactured by Elastolin of Ludwigsburg, Germany. The set includes 1 hand-painted composite tree, 1 farm girl, and 12 chickens/roosters. Included is a box that came to us from the estate where we picked these up. We do not know if the box is original to this set or just a box the owner put them in for safekeeping.

Included is a wooden farm house that we believe to be Moritz Gottschalk of Marienberg in the Erzgebirge (Ore Mountains) of Germany. The farm comes with a bag of composite plant boxes with plants. What makes identification of these dollhouses so difficult is that other companies during the period copied Gottschalk’s style. One world-famous dollhouse maker Albin Schönherr was a former employee of Moritz Gottschalk, and many of his dollhouses and buildings were/are barely distinguishable from Gottschalk’s houses/buildings.

These pieces are in very good to great original condition. We did see a break and repair on the tree down by the trunk. There are also a few roosters/chickens with crackling paint and chunks out of their bases. We tried to get pictures of them as best we could. These pieces show the usual patina, fading, dust, chips, scuffs, surface rust, scratches, missing accessories, and wear that is to be expected from age and play. We encourage you to examine the photographs to further determine condition and quality.

A brief history of Lineol/Lineol Model Toys of Brandenberg/Havel/Dresden, Germany:

1905 to date

Founder: Oskar Wiederholz

Specialty: Tinplate military toys and trenchworks; also, composition armies, barnyard scenes, zoo menageries, Christmas creches, cooking and tea sets, and wooden toys. Lineol`s 7.5cm military miniatures are deemed superior to Elastolin. Lineol was nationalized in 1949 and moved to Dresden. It still produces miniatures today under the name VEB Lineol-Plastik Dresden.

A brief history of Moritz Gottschalk of Marienberg in the Erzgebirge Mountains of Germany:

1865 (book binding)/1873 (toy production) – 1972

Founder: Moritz Gottschalk

Specialty: Wooden toys and dollhouses/building with hand-painted or lithographed paper facades. In 1905, Moritz Gottschalk passed away, but the company would continue to be run by his family. During WWI and WWII there were breaks in production, but after some regrouping they would be back up and running again producing dollhouses and putting out catalogs.

Until about 1919 the roofs on Gottschalk’s dollhouses were blue, then after that they were began making them with red roofs. Many of the company’s dollhouses were marked underneath with a number which can be found in the catalogues. The end of this long-established company came in 1972 when all remaining private enterprises of the German Democratic Republic were dispossessed and nationalized. After that the Gottschalk Company would continue to make single parts for their dollhouses, but after a fire destroyed their buildings they would stop production all together and the remaining buildings were torn down in 1999.