Gutenberg's printing press salvaged - i.e. Raben connecting Regensburg with Legnica

Regensburg is a town famous for the oldest continuously open public restaurant in Germany as well as for many beautiful sights and historical attractions. Among them the unsurpassed treasure - the original printing press from the beginning of the 20th century displaying the logo of Johannes Gutenberg company. The complete printing line was preserved in privately owned buildings of the Bavaria town Maxhütte-Haidhof, on the outskirts of Regensburg. By pure coincidence, Mikołaj Rybczyński, an entrepreneur and a printing aficionado, came across the device.

“It was a pure ‘Back to the future’ story”. It turned out that we could save the traditional form of printing from being forgotten and popularize the invention of Johannes Gutenberg which had revolutionized the world. The equipment of the printing house will be used during workshops in my photo gallery - printing house and thus it will perform an educational function. Warsaw Museum, Print Museum division, granted patronage over the project. An extraordinary place will be created which we will fill with history of old printing techniques. When I made the purchase, I asked Raben Group for assistance in the organization of international transport from Germany to Puszczykowo.” – says Mikołaj Rybczyński, Copia Studio Poland.

The printing house dates back to 1897-1971. It comes from the North of Germany, from around Hamburg, and about 20 years ago it was moved to Maxhuette - Haidhof and gradually supplemented with more exhibits. The main equipment is two Typographic Diamant printing machines from 1897, a dozen or so old oak and beech typesetting cabinets with wooden and alloy fonts, original matrices for printing from 1900-1970 with various motifs (architecture, motorization, fashion, nature, design, everyday life). The historical printing house was operational until about 1985.

To save this extraordinary collection, a printing fan turned to Raben and it was the best choice. It was the bull's eye!

Raben Group, implementing the current strategy for the development of direct, daily groupage connections between Poland and Germany, has become a natural partner of this project. All the more so that at the beginning of November, the company launched as many as 4 new and direct groupage connections from the area of ​​Southern Germany to the main HUB in Legnica.  

“We celebrated November novelties with the honourable reception of the historic printing house from the village of Maxhutte - Heidhof. The execution of this undertaking was possible thanks to the excellent cooperation between the branches of Raben Wrocław, Legnica, Gądki and Raben Regensburg. I would especially like to emphasize the role of the carrier, Mr. Maciej Kosowski, a person directly involved in and carrying out the transport of the said printing house. We rarely talk about people who are our showcase and have direct contact with customers. Without the personal help of Mr. Kosowski, it would not have been possible to carry out the transport in a safe and timely manner. – says Andrzej Bielecki, Regional Director - International Distribution, Raben Logistics Polska

At this point, it is worth emphasizing the role of the Raben Legnica branch, which, as part of the international network of connections of Raben Logistics Polska, as the largest HUB, is successfully developing German connections. Experience and technical capabilities (the printing house was transported using specialist City Liner trailer) enabled efficient and safe transport of the Gutenberg machine to the final destination.

“We are consistently building a strong network of linehaul connections of Raben Group between Poland and Germany. Currently, there are 35 daily direct departures from Gateway Legnica to branches of Raben Germany and 31 daily import connections. The beginning of November is the extension of the offer with import connections from Regensburg, Garching, Hof and Reichenberg.” – explains Andrzej Bielecki.

Raben Group, after starting further connections to/from Regensburg, Garching (Munich), Reichenberg, Hof, currently has 44 daily export connections from Poland to Germany and 43 import connections to Poland from Germany, based on two transloading centres in Poland - Legnica and Gądki near Poznań.