Biller in Europe and overseas


Biller around the world

After WW II German Toys very fast regained, due to quality and robustness, their credit. Biller followed the trend to export and thus stabilize and increase the turnover. Biller exported to all over the world. Especially America took a reasonable part. Toys were shipped from Germany as presents (to say "Thank you for your help" after WW II), on the other hand many in Germany stationed GI's took the toys bought in Germany back home. Thus Biller is well known to the "older" generation in the US. There were no country specific catalogues. However mail order companies often offered Biller items in their catalogues and Biller catalogues and leaflet were multilingual e.g. German -English, -French, -Italian, -Dutch and -Spanish.

Billerbahn in France
See some pictures which came to Germany New year 2006. They show Billerbahn in France - in- and outdoor. And the last picture represents the owner - sitting together with his wife on a garden bench - watching LGB gauge IIm trains pass through the "Valleys" the Billerbahn has passed in the 50ies and 60ies. The track layout has a length of approx. 100 meters. And beside this hobby, Denis is an active member of the PITHIVIERS Museum in France - and he has drivers license for KDL and Gmeinder locomotives. Enjoy the excellent aura of these pictures.





Denis presenting a Biller layout on an exhibition in ST MICHEL sur ORGE - 20 KM south of Paris - March 2006


	<--- A picture presented by Pierre Crézé. The picture shows him with sisters and brothers playing the Billerbahn on DEC-25-1954. What a nice scene - and memory.
	---> And he still preserves the old catalog and price list from May 1953. E.g. the Set 151 is sold at double the price as offered in Germany!!!

Biller in Great Britain
Please follow the link to see some pictures of a layout which was operated between 1975 and 1980 - mainly in Germany and afterwards in England. The layout was called "Lilienthal Kleinbahn" - very impressive - especially the details. Meanwhile a Biller Open Air Layout was built.

Biller in Sweden
A really nice Biller collection from Lidingö / Sweden. All parts in very good original working condition. Everything is owned for approx. 50 years. Unfortunately Staffan died in DEC 2019


Biller in the Netherlands
Products produced by Biller were imported and delivered by SWEERING of Amsterdam. Approximately 1978 this concern moved from Amsterdam to Almere, were another Biller collector found some left-over in early 2000, partially originally boxed. See 5 catalogue pages of Dutch mail order companies
1961 offer by "van Hilten's Book Store" in Uithoorn / NL	Haussemann & Hötte as of 1965	catalogue picture by "Hootsen's" - Veenendaal / NL - 1965/66


- unknown - as of 1969	- unknown - as of 1969


This is a picture made by my father at the Euro-Model Toy Fare in Bremen Germany - showing the 0-gauge Fleischmann layout of Eric den Hamer from Belgium - presenting some Biller in between. A really cute and professional layout.


Billerbahn operated by Niek van Ees

Here is another Biller Layout owned and operated by Niek van Ees. The pictures show Niek's individual layout at a convention in Valkenburg / The Netherlands in 2009, where he - together with Hans van Dissel - presents his treasures on a 6 meter table

The first 6 pictures show the individual layout from different perspectives...




... and 3 pictures from the homelike glass case


Biller in Switzerland

Most probably the Zurich mail order company Franz Carl Weber was the first to present Products in their program. The train sets 100 and 101 were already shown in the 1948 catalogue. I do have FCW-catalogue copies up to 1967 offering Biller Toys. Nowadays Biller in Switzerland is still well known under his pre-war initial "HABI".

And finally some pictures from Switzerland: some Biller Toys - and else manufactured toys typical for these "good old times".





Now showing 3 pictures of a Billerbahn incl. accessories which were bought between 1958 and 1965. There are small changes visible - however the plastic steam-cloud of the 1510 still exists!!! All this material was sold in September 2016 in the Greater Zurich / Switzerland.

The beginning in 1959	changes until 1967	minor changes in 1960 - and coloured


fixed layout 1964	keine Veränderungen bis 1967	as "recovered from tha attic" in 2010


Biller in Australia and New Zealand

Biller as well exported to Australia and New Zealand. In the City of Oldham Biller items were offered at a clothing store called "George Courts" and Hans Biller had personal contact to a Biller-Fan, whom he then had sent some Biller toys. The following layouts of Peter Brennan (born 1929) are still in operation. Different colours are a result of own "creativity". Parts of this (meanwhile changed) layout were shown by Hans Biller at the Nuremberg Toy Fare either 1973 or 1974.


another small layout from "down under" - by C. Duthie from New Zealand
	presenting a STABO gantry, an ISSMAYER footbridge and a KBN station - all German products of the Biller era

Biller in the USA

As already mentioned above many Biller Toys came to the US as "Thank you" presents after WW 2 and by returning GI's after having been in Germany. After that - beside "normal" shops e.g. F.A.O. Schwarz - mail order companies as J. J. Newberry sold Biller train sets - using own lid inscriptions. See three pictures from Lew Schneider, Waban, MA - Biller together with other Tin Plate Toys. See the Biller delivery tricycle on the 1st picture!!!

Do you want to see more? Here we go!!!

I do have knowledge of Biller being sold in Austria, Italy, Canada, Spain and Uruguay. Details to follow (hopefully). And there is at least one Layout in South Africa.

generated: AUG-05-2001

last update: Christmas 2017