Klaus Baumann -- Trail Blazer Part 4

This is a translation of an article/interview published by GARTENBAHN profi in  magazine 5/2008, pages 16-21. The original magazine is available under http://www.gartenbahnprofi.de/Gartenbahn-Profi-Magazin/Jahres-Inhaltsverzeichnisse.  Italic text in parentheses is background information about related topics in the article.

Clockwise from top left: Klaus Baumann right and Udo Juergens, singer, left; top right: Comedian Ernst H Hilbich holding a Stainz, Klaus Baumann on right;bottom right: Friedrich Merz w/Bavarian TV Station center, left: Klaus Baumann, right:Wolfgang Richter; bottom left: Klaus Baumann, left, with Dieter Thomas Heck (German game show host) holding a Ge 2/4.

Klaus Baumann (...continued): All those contacts became very useful. That was also how the LGB Tv appearances came to happen. At Peter Frankenfeld's show "Musik ist Trumpf" the LGB carried the quiz-questions and at the end of the show champagne for the participants. And most of the time I was back stage operating the train. After those show episodes they were talking about the "TV train" and customers wanted to buy them in stores the next day and retailers then ordered them with us. That's how it worked!---Peter Frankenfeld was a big LGB fan in his personal life. He had a trestles-LGB train layout in his landscaped back yard. This system that you will often see in England allows for easy viewing the operating train on eye level. Accompanied by his wife Loni he came to the LGB factory one day and of course got a personal tour of the house.

Always welcomed at the LGB factory: Peter Frankenfeld and wife Loni (2nd from right and 3rd from right), Klaus Baumann(right), Wolfgang Richter (left), Eberhard Richter with wife Karin and daughter.

GBP: Leafing through older issues of "LGB Depesche" (German issue of LGB Telegram) one notices a special relationship between manufacturer and their customers marked by the magazine itself, contests and conventions. Of course the main reason for that was the articles themselves being for the hobby market; but also these products were marketed with their heart in it not just their business mind. You yourself were at the front gate almost all the time being "Mr. Lehmann" for many a LGB fan. Wasn't that a  very particular sense of achievement?

From left: Wife of Governor of Saxonia, Klaus Baumann, Prof. Kurt Biedenkopf  Governor of Saxonia, Wolfgang Richter at the Toy Fair Nuremberg 1993 presenting a new unloading feature with a proud Klaus Baumann in the back.

Klaus Baumann: Yes, indeed. But there are always two sides to a coin. I had less time for a private life because of that. Being at a convention through a weekend was work, not fun like it was for the visitors. I am also a member of several consulting committees and I was an active board member of the "Deutscher Spielwarenverband" (German Toys Association), "IGEMA" (International Alliance of Model Train Suppliers),"Deutsches Spielzeug Institut" (German Toys Institute"), "Fachgruppe Modelleisenbahn" (Section Model Trains) and "Spiel Aktiv" (Play Active). Doing a TV show with Peter Frankenfeld took a whole week; the show itself was aired prime time on Saturdays. My wife can tell a story or two how often she had to master things herself because I was on the road.----Later attendance at the LGB Club (events) was added. Whether it was in Switzerland where an LGB layout had a ribbon-cutting at the Arosa-Kulm Hotel or whether the LGB Friends Rhein/Sieg had their anniversary party. If I could make it happen I did make it happen to attend. It was a lot of fun for me, too. Quite a few friendships have evolved out of that - just like the two of us are sitting here today. And back then it was very interesting, quite frankly, to get to meet all those celebrities like Udo Juergens, Wim Thoelke, Dieter Thomas Heck, Peter Kraus, Dunja Rajter, Caterina Valente just to name a few. (compare to Jim Peck, Richard Dawson, Alex Trebek, Barbara Mandrell, George Jones etc). Not to mention a real 'Miss Germany' and rock singer Peter Maffay who I met while I was board member of DSI honoring him for his activities.++++to be continued

Miss Germany 1986 (Anja Hoernich) at the LGB booth and Klaus Baumann