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German Catalogues "Printed in Germany" - why in English?
 Joined: 31/12/2010(UTC) Posts: 3,998 Location: Paremata, Wellington
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Not specifically a MRR question, but I've noticed and am curious.
I was doing some research and noted many items of Märklin literature will be printed entirely in German, EXCEPT for "Printed in Germany", or "Printed in Western Germany".
Note it's not just Märklin. I have some other non-railway literature (reference material) which is in three or four languages. German, French, English, maybe another. Again, in one example, "Printed in Japan" (in English), but not in the other languages although sometimes, there might also be "Imprimé en allemagne"
There must be some sort of convention about this. My initial Mr google search doesn't help, but before digging deeper, someone here might know for certain and save me that time.
Thanks
Cookee
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Cookee Wellington  |
 1 user liked this useful post by cookee_nz
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 Joined: 02/04/2021(UTC) Posts: 20 Location: New York, New York City
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The US has strong “Country of Origin” labeling requirements, which state that every foreign product entering the US must state, in English, where it was made. I don’t know for sure that would be why those publications would say that, but it stands to reason that even if they are only in German, if they—or something they accompany—might be exported to America, they won’t need to be reprinted to follow that requirement. |
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 Joined: 28/11/2007(UTC) Posts: 8,229 Location: Montreal, QC
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I assume that the "Printed in Germany" was more for export than for domestic purposes.
My Maerklin 3050 had "Made in West Germany" on the underside of one bogie.
Regards
Mike C
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 Joined: 29/07/2007(UTC) Posts: 1,435 Location: Switzerland
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Originally Posted by: mike c 
My Maerklin 3050 had "Made in West Germany" on the underside of one bogie.
The birthday of "Made in Germany" is considered to be August 23, 1887, when the British Merchandise Marks Act was passed. From then on, products from Germany had to bear the words "Made in Germany". I assume that the "Printed in Germany" labeling has a similar legal reason.
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1 user liked this useful post by Unholz
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Joined: 31/12/2010(UTC) Posts: 3,998 Location: Paremata, Wellington
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Originally Posted by: Unholz Originally Posted by: mike c
My Maerklin 3050 had "Made in West Germany" on the underside of one bogie.
The birthday of "Made in Germany" is considered to be August 23, 1887, when the British Merchandise Marks Act was passed. From then on, products from Germany had to bear the words "Made in Germany". I assume that the "Printed in Germany" labeling has a similar legal reason. Thank you Stefan, that is exactly the type of answer I was looking for (the earlier answers helpful also of course)  So does that Act specifically require that the wording be "Printed in Germany", rather than "Gedruckt in Deutschland" as you might expect on an item that contains no other English content? What an interesting and unusual requirement. Thanks again, you learn something new every day :-) |
Cookee Wellington |
1 user liked this useful post by cookee_nz
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Joined: 29/07/2007(UTC) Posts: 1,435 Location: Switzerland
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So far, I haven't found the "one and only" original source for the requirement/obligation/tradition to mention "Printed in Germany". However, it must go a long way back. But I suspect that the necessity of identification must have come from the outside of Germany - perhaps an international treaty or a state contract of some kind? Otherwise, it would certainly have been more logical to write "Gedruckt in Deutschland". Picture postcard collectors mention something similar here: http://www.tpa-project.i...body_identification.html
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1 user liked this useful post by Unholz
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 Joined: 23/07/2014(UTC) Posts: 8,475 Location: ENGLAND, Didcot
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Originally Posted by: cookee_nz Originally Posted by: Unholz Originally Posted by: mike c
My Maerklin 3050 had "Made in West Germany" on the underside of one bogie.
The birthday of "Made in Germany" is considered to be August 23, 1887, when the British Merchandise Marks Act was passed. From then on, products from Germany had to bear the words "Made in Germany". I assume that the "Printed in Germany" labeling has a similar legal reason. Thank you Stefan, that is exactly the type of answer I was looking for (the earlier answers helpful also of course) So does that Act specifically require that the wording be "Printed in Germany", rather than "Gedruckt in Deutschland" as you might expect on an item that contains no other English content? What an interesting and unusual requirement. Thanks again, you learn something new every day :-) It may be worth contacting the archive department at Marklin to see if they can shed some light on the reason. I'm sure they will know, or know who inside Marklin to contact to find out.
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1 user liked this useful post by kiwiAlan
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