Company Profile: Röwa
History in a Nutshell
Röwa Modelleisenbahnen GmbH was founded in
1959 by Willy Ade (founder of Wiad) and Horst Röchling, the company name being derived from their names, in
Unterensingen, Germany. Initially they manufactured HO Scale freight and passenger cars on behalf of Trix; by 1968,
however, the arrangement with Trix dissolved, and Röwa began marketing their products under their own name.
Röwa took ownership of Rokal around 1972; however, Röwa was a public company, and Rokal was their principal shareholder; when Rokal went bankrupt in 1973, Röwa did likewise the following year. Roco picked up most of the tooling from both companies, but never did much of anything with it. In 2008, Roco went bankrupt and, together with Fleischmann, was purchased by Modelleisenbahn GmbH.
N Scale Products
Röwa did not make many N Scale products, but those they did were exceptional. Model Rectifier Corporation imported Röwa's American prototype models, which included a Berkshire, a Y6b, and a number of passenger cars.
Printed Matter
Precious little is to be found, particularly for their N Scale products; HO and TT were more actively marketed. Here's the cover of their 1969/70 catalog:
