I have an oldish Fleischmann locomotive (#7334) that says "Made in Germany" on the trucks. I'm wondering if the even older ones say "West Germany" on the trucks (thus allowing one to date them a little better)? If you have one, can you take a look? Thanks! -Mark
I've got a Fleischmann SNCF BB15501 from the early 1980's, when unification was still only a dream - it says "Made in Germany" on the trucks.
I'll be very surprised if you do find 'Made in West Germany' on any. When I was a kid growing up, we had Foreign Exchange Students stay with us - none of the German students we had stay ever referred to their country as 'West Germany', it was always 'Germany.' In fact, the only time I heard it referred to as such by a German was when I was was in Berlin in 1985 - and that was when we going through Checkpoint Charlie into East Berlin.
I have a Santa Fe F3a made by Fleischmann presumably for ConCor with "Made in Germany" on the fuel tank.
I have an "HO" Fleischmann NH EP5 locomotive that I purchased new in 1967. It has Made In Germany on the bottom.
Actually, it's pretty common for pre-unification stuff to be labeled "Made in W Germany". I've seen it on any number of older models (Arnold, for example). Cheers, -Mark
Yes, many manufacturers of many different items had "Made in Western Germany" or "Made in W. Germany" on their products but some manufacturers never did that. Evidently, Fleischmann was one of those. Doug
Ah, but what does it mean? Took a look at some of my old models. MRC/Rowa mallet- just Germany. Arnold GG-1- just Germany. And a few things with made in W.Germany on them. Then, I found a couple ancient Arnold-Rapido hoppers that spelled it out- Not West Germany, but WESTERN Germany; something I've often seen on old non hobby related items as well. Gotta wonder. Western Germany is stating a geographical location. West Germany is a political entity. Using the term would sort of acknowledge the legitimacy of the commie occupied east. So- was the term "West Germany" commonly used by german firms etc.? If I was them, I don't think I would have...
kiasutha, you hit the nail right on the head - that's exactly how a German friend explained it to me only last night.
From another point of view, however, by indicating "Western Germany" or W. Germany", they would have been tacitly saying, "We're from the good side." and I used to see many German products with those phrases on them. Doug