Tucher and Walther History

Tucher & Walther
Tucher + Walther was established in 1977 by Elisabeth Walther and Bernhard Tucher in Nurnberg, Germany, the traditional toy center of the world. Since Nurnberg had a long tradition of manufacturing tin toys, many from old factories that were no longer in production, Tucher + Walther were able to get their hands on a continuous supply of world famous traditional tin toys that could be sold to collectors. As many of the toys needed repair before their re-sale, they ultimately decided to open a small repair shop. Their business took off and the antique toysproved to be best sellers. In 1979, with hopes of expanding their business, Tucher & Walther decided they would sell not only antique tin toys, but new ones as well. As part of their expansion plans, they decided to exhibit their merchandise at the world famous Nurnberg Toy Fair. Since there were so many exhibitors, many of which were competitors also selling tin toys, they needed to differentiate themselves. In the hopes of drawing attention to their booth, they decided to hand make and display a large tin Zeppelin and tin Ferris Wheel for decoration. These 'decorations' proved to be more popular than the items they were actually selling. Shortly thereafter Tucher + Walther produced their first two original tin toys, with additional designs added each year. Their first original steam-driven items, first introduced in 1982, were a train and boat called the 'Elisabeth Joanna' (named after Mr. Tucher's daughter), similar to their 'Victoria Louise.

Bernhard Tücher Tin Toys (Tucher Blech Original)
The company that was founded by Bernhard Tucher and Elizabeth Walther (Tucher & Walther) was closed when Bernhard retired at the end of 2009. Although the company closed in 2009, Bernhard still makes a few tin toys at his small home shop with his wife, Danuta. His creative abilities have not slowed and he still loves tinkering with new ideas, albeit on a much smaller scale. At this point, for Bernhard this is more of a hobby than a full-time job, but he still creates beautiful toys and is one of the last great tin toy makers in the world.

Whilst the Toy Steam Bible only features the steam driven models, Bob's Tin Room includes many of the tin toys as well as the steam models and is well worth a visit -->> bobstinroom

Tucher and Walther Models


T-208 schiff Elisabeth Joanna

T-461 Flugapparat Flying Machine

T-714 Mondrakete Moon Rocket

T-751 Luftschiff Victoria

T-999 Space Man

The General

Stadt Luzern

SMS Schwaben

Vaterland

Paris

Dreadnought

Schaarhorn

Caledonia

North River Steam Yacht

Titanic

Victoria Louise

Shipyard

Dampf Ikarus

Blue Steam Motorcycle

Dampf Hubschrauber

Red Steam-powered Airplane

Flugboot

Tucher Brau

Motorcycle Factory

Factory

Regina Maris

Bremen

African Queen

Alte Liebe

Clermont

Torpedo Boat

Racer

Vulcan

Hamburg

Bailey

Aquitania