Family Business
The founder’s son Helmut Riepe enters the company bringing young blood to rOtring.
Export Expansion
Export manager Karl H. Dietze turns the small company into a global creative tools player and expands rOtrings horizons. The company has its first commercial van painted with the rOtring Tinkenkuli (inkograph) and red ring [...]
The World Fair
The 1939 World Fair presents a newer and clearer view of American industrial design in an effort to build the world of tomorrow. On display are the new materials and streamlined and efficient shapes dictating [...]
A Four Colour Pen
The first rotring Multipen is born, a glorious “4-colour-pen” with graphite leads and a nifty twist mechanism. The Multipen allows for variations of color with the elegant simplicity of one tool.
Global Expansion
The "Riepe Werke" export the Tiku to 34 countries around the world. The pens become the go-to writing instrument of the 1930s.
Patented Design
The first patent for a rOtring ink pen with tubular nib is granted. Pens no longer necessitate a huge space on one’s desk and a new era of flexibility commences.
Evolving Modernism
The Modernism movement in design continues to evolve with the adoption of new technologies into daily life across Western Europe. Modernists believed they could design a better society in which function dictated form. Modernism comes [...]
Signature Nibless Fountain Pen
The first nibless fountain pen is unveiled. The model was to become affectionately referred to as “Tiku” around the world. The design combines the ink-flow regulator with a tubular nib and a regulator wire. The [...]
The Birth of Bauhaus
The Bauhaus School of Art & Design inspired the unification of art with craft while embracing new technologies for mass production. Arguably the most celebrated design school in history, Bauhaus thinkers felt the world needed [...]