Hello Wayne, hello Jan,
I don't know if the history of Doll & Co. and its relationship to Fleischmann has ever been discussed in this forum. In my (superficial) search, I have found nothing on this subject. Therefore, before I respond to your posts, I would first like to give a brief description of the history of Doll, as it is listed at Historytoy.com.
Company history and description of Doll & Co. in Germany
On 19.12.1898 the company "Doll & Co." was founded by the plumber Peter Doll and the merchant Isaak Sondheim. In the beginning they produced mainly simple steam engines and operating models. They tried to stand out from the competition by high quality and hardly any other company produced so many operating models.
In 1909 Peter Doll left the company and Sondheim became the sole owner.
On 01.01.1911 Max Bein, a nephew of Sondheim, joined the company as another shareholder. Due to the work of Max Bein the company got a boost in innovation.
On 22.03.1923 the OHG was converted into a joint-stock company.
In 1927, the chief engineer Reichel was taken over by the troubled Bing company. This company started to produce steam locomotives in 0 gauge, later electric ones were also produced. Only one type of ghost locomotive was developed.
In 1930, there were about 150 employees.
In 1933, the company was renamed "Fränkische Metallspiewaren AG" to avoid expropriation by the National Socialists.
In 1938, the company was taken over by the Fleischmann company, which continued to use the Doll name.
In 1949, the Doll railroad became the Fleischmann DC railroad in 0 gauge, which was replaced by H0 gauge in 1958.
The steam engines were sold under the Doll name until 1949, and under Fleischmann from 1950, and are no longer in the catalog from 1969.
I have read a few times during my research that the Bein and Fleischmann families were friends. But like Jan, I have my doubts. A proof for it, as well as for the fact that the Fleischmann family is of Jewish origin, I have not found until today. There is an interview with one of the two daughters of Max Bein, which rather indicates that this friendship probably did not exist.
(Please click the button "Auf VIMEO ansehen")
Here is a short summary of the interview:
"My father always believed that this would pass, that it couldn't last long," Elizabeth recalls in the interview about the fatal illusion that patriotic Jews in particular harbored during the Nazi dictatorship. Elizabeth Miller, born Elsbeth Rosa Bein in Nuremberg on June 13, 1923, came from such a patriotic family: Her father had served in World War I, and she herself grew up with a picture of Hindenburg above her bed. But suddenly the Beins were no longer considered Germans. Under the pressure of "Aryanization," the father's toy factory, Doll & Co., had to be sold at a ridiculous price, the Bein's villa had to be abandoned, silver and jewelry had to be given away. Under the shock of the Reich Pogrom Night, the Bein family decided to emigrate. In May 1939, Elsbeth and her younger sister Ingeborg first arrived in England on a Kindertransport, where they found shelter with friends in London. When the parents, who had enrolled in the long waiting list for emigration to the USA, finally received visas and ship papers, war broke out. On September 2, 1939, they illegally fled to relatives in Holland and from there emigrated to the United States. In October 1940, the family was reunited in Boston. Elizabeth Miller now lives near San Francisco.
Unfortunately, the interview is conducted in German and I have not found a translation into English.
In the interview, Mrs. Miller clearly states that her father had to sell the Doll & Co. company for a ridiculous price. On the occasion of a visit to Nuremberg after the war, the old Mr. Fleischmann showed her around the company. One would hardly call a good friend of the family "old Mr. Fleischmann".
After the war, legends were often created in Germany. Who likes to be accused of having enriched himself from the misery and misfortune of others? But that has not been proven in this case either. At least, I have not been able to find out anything about it so far.
The Fleischmann company has undoubtedly profited greatly from the takeover of Doll and Co. And not only in the field of toy steam engine production, but much more in the field of model trains. In this branch of production, the development at Doll had just really taken off before the expropriation.
After the war, Fleischmann offered to transfer the ownership of Doll & Co. back to the Bein family. The Bein family declined this offer and instead had a corresponding number of shares paid out. Understandable, after all that had been done to them in Germany.
If you have further, especially provable information about the history of Doll & Co. and the Bein family, you will find someone here who will gratefully accept this information.
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