Anchor Stone Blocks are components of stone construction sets made in Rudolstadt, Germany used as a construction toy. They are so precisely cut and polished that they fit together perfectly. They are made in three colors in imitation of the red brick, tan limestone, and blue slate of European buildings. They are not recommended for play by children under 3 years of age because of their small size.

The long history of the Anker Stone goes back to the German educator Friedrich Froebel, the creator of the kindergarten system. He observed how children enjoyed playing with geometric shapes blocks. Froebel was also the designer of the first construction set system for children consisting of wooden square shaped geometric building blocks.

Inspired by the wooden bricks of kindergarten founder Friedrich Froebel, the brothers Otto and Gustav Lilienthal develop a unique formula to manufacture mineral building bricks consisting of a mixture based on quartz sand, chalk and linseed oil. In search of an authentic construction feeling, the aviation pioneers find an alternative for the unstable wooden bricks. The first Anker Stone Building Set wins people over with its natural feel. Due to great precision in manufacturing, the weight of the stones and their composition, large buildings can be constructed without using any adhesive agents.

Unfortunately, the Lilienthals, though brilliant inventors, had limited commercial success. Deeply in debt they are forced to sell their unique brick formula to the versatile entrepreneur Richter. In 1880 the factory owner sets up a new building for the production of “Richter’s Anker Stone Building Set” in Rudolstadt. The first worldwide building set system is born.

Very soon, over 40,000 Anker Stone Building Sets are produced and distributed under the Anker Logo. Branches and subsidiaries are established in Vienna, St. Petersburg, London and New York. Very soon the Anker Stone Building Sets become a synonym for a creative, educationally valuable game.

The marketing expert Richter can boast of praise of the Anker Stone from great personalities such as Thomas Edison or US President Cleveland. At the time of Richter’s death, the empire is at its peak with branches all over Europe and the USA. At this time, 649 workers are employed at the flagship factory in Rudolstadt.

Although Anchor Stones survived World War I and World War II, the factory was included within Communist East Germany when the Iron Curtain divided Europe. In 1953, the company was reorganized as VEB Anker-Steinbaukasten, a state-owned company. In 1963, the production of the blocks was stopped.

According to estimates about 5 billion Anker Stones were sold in four hundred different sets from 1880 to 1963.

The Anker brick has many loyal friends, for instance the International Club of Anker Friends that was founded in Holland in 1979.

It was Anker Stone lover Georg Plenge, a professor of acoustics at the Technical University in Berlin, who started the Anker Stone renaissance project. With the support of the Club of Anchor Friends, EU aid money and Thuringia, production at the factory in Rudolstadt restarted 15 September 1995.