Multi-faceted, international, pioneering: Spielwarenmesse eG celebrates 75th anniversary

• Ceremony took place at general meeting in Nuremberg
• Celebration of special birthday for Spielwarenmesse to follow in January

Spielwarenmesse eG has been making history for three-quarters of a century – and doing so with huge success. While the company enjoys its 75^th birthday in 2025, it will not be until 2026 that the Spielwarenmesse fair itself celebrates its platinum anniversary as the Nuremberg cooperative’s most important event. 

With passion and foresight

The multifaceted positioning and international orientation of Spielwarenmesse eG is representative of the toy sector and related consumer goods markets. Right from the start, being a cooperative set it apart from other trade fair companies. In 1949, four visionary entrepreneurs embraced the risks and decided to launch the Spielwarenmesse in Nuremberg. After the successful premiere of the German Toy Fair in 1950, the deal to form the cooperative was sealed the same year. “With this legal structure we remain something of an exotic species in the trade fair world, and one of the most successful cooperatives in Bavaria”, comments Christian Ulrich who, together with his colleagues Florian Hess and Jens Pflüger, has controlled the fate of Spielwarenmesse eG since 2021. This leadership trio is supported by some 60 colleagues at the company’s base in Nuremberg and by a network of representatives in over 100 countries. 

A promising future

The firm’s highly international aspect is a particular characteristic, now more than ever. So is the passion with which its managers give life to the ‘Spirit of Play’ to bring together and inspire people across the world. At the centre of its portfolio are now two world-leading trade fairs: the Spielwarenmesse in Nuremberg, its B2B flagship – which has featured the rocking horse in its logo since its second ever edition – and SPIEL in Essen, the leading B2C event. The range of fairs is complemented by Kids India in Mumbai and by the international ‘World of Toys by Spielwarenmesse eG’ format, whose shared stands provide targeted access to markets in Hong Kong, Tokyo and New York. The Company’s own subsidiaries in the key locations of China and India ensure that appropriate expertise is available locally. “With this global structure and its combined expert knowledge, Spielwarenmesse eG is increasingly becoming a driving force with regard to trends, topics and new business models,” explains Ulrich. The latest example of this is BRANDmate – a fresh, future-directed event in Essen for everything related to licensing and brand collaboration. Online activities throughout the year round off the company’s programme. 

Big party next year

For all its up-to-date structure, the team at Spielwarenmesse eG still looks back proudly to its roots: it honoured its 75^th anniversary in traditional manner with an evening of celebrations for its members at the Imperial Castle of Nuremberg, in conjunction with its general meeting on 24 April. The coronavirus pandemic made it impossible to hold the Spielwarenmesse as an in-person event in 2021 and 2022. For this reason, celebration of the 75^th anniversary of the trade fair itself has been pushed back to next year: its big birthday party takes place during the fair, which runs from 26 to 31 January 2026. “We’ll be celebrating this special occasion with all the participants – it’s a moment for appreciating what has been achieved and a prompt to carry our success story into the future, together with the entire sector,” says Christian Ulrich.