Zeuke

The company was originally Zeuke & Wegwerth KG, based in East Berlin. Werner Zeuke had begun producing toys and model railway equipment shortly after World War II; the company dates from the second half of the 1940s. Early railway production included 0 scale, with some H0 production as well.

Its really important period began in 1957, when Zeuke presented its first TT-scale (1:120, 12-mm gauge) range at the Leipzig Spring Fair. Among the early models were the DR BR 23 steam locomotive and a DB V 200 diesel, together with track, signals and accessories. Commercial deliveries followed around Christmas 1958.

TT became so successful that Zeuke gradually abandoned its larger-scale products and concentrated overwhelmingly on TT. The company therefore became one of the manufacturers responsible for making TT extraordinarily popular in the DDR and other Eastern European countries. Zeuke products were also exported extensively to Western Europe, including West Germany, Belgium and Great Britain.

In 1972, the DDR nationalized Zeuke & Wegwerth and renamed it VEB Berliner TT-Bahnen, usually known simply as BTTB. Interestingly, the Zeuke name continued to appear on some export products even after nationalization.

After German reunification, the company was reprivatized and the Zeuke name returned as Berliner TT-Bahnen Zeuke GmbH. The business ultimately failed in 1993, and its product range and tooling became part of the companies that evolved into Tillig. Consequently, a number of later Tillig products have their ancestry in Zeuke/BTTB tooling.