As of: 04/24/2022 9:42 p.m
Altenburg is proud of its tradition as the cradle of skat. But the business with Bube, Grand and Schneider also has a future: A new playing card factory is being built in the city in Thuringia.
Neither rare earths nor metals, but cardboard and paper should make the industrial location of Altenburg in Thuringia fit for the future. Because at the beginning of 2023, the “Spielkartenfabrik Altenburg GmbH” would like to move to a new, modern production facility. Mayor André Neumann from the CDU, together with other responsible persons, set the symbolic groundbreaking last week. It’s an investment in a growing market.
Last year, the Altenburg playing card factory already produced 42 million decks and 14 million decks. The current factory can now hardly deliver as many games as orders come in. And not only in Altenburg do the machines in the games industry run hot. Hermann Hutter, Chairman of the “Verband der Spieleverlage eV”, points out that in 2021 the members of the association achieved positive growth figures for the seventh year in a row.
Board games on the rise
Especially in the first year of the pandemic, 2020, in the midst of working from home and digital learning platforms, the analog parlor game boomed. “Because the company stayed at home more often, they were brought closer to parlor games,” says Jürgen Gehr, managing director of the Altenburg playing card factory. Gehr is certain that even without the corona virus, the excavators would be rolling in Altenburg today. The growth rates had already been good in previous years. Demand is increasing, especially for parlor games such as Carcassonne or so-called exit games.
“Of course, this is a very big deal for the city. It means the future,” says Mayor Neumann. The Altenburg playing card factory belongs to the Belgian parent company Cartamundi. Neumann is particularly proud that his city was able to outperform competitors from Ireland and Poland when looking for a location.
Mayor André Neumann in front of the building site on which the new factory will be built. Altenburg was able to assert itself against international competition, he says.
Image: Tycho Schildbach/mdr
Old games produced in a modern way
In this way, the city has retained a long tradition. At the beginning of the 19th century, Altenburger invented the game of skat. The traditional game has been produced in the self-proclaimed skat city since 1832. In the future, the Altenburgers want to produce skat decks and other games more automatically and sustainably on 20,500 square meters. Among other things, rainwater treatment and photovoltaic systems are planned. The “German Sustainable Building Council” awarded the building the best rating, platinum.
So far, only an advertising poster on site gives an idea of what the future factory could look like. Behind the poster, a few excavators are driving across the sandy wasteland. Nevertheless, the construction should be completed before the end of this year. However, the costs of more than 20 million euros are not borne by the Altenburg playing card factory, but by Panattoni, a project developer for industrial real estate. The Altenburg playing card factory is only moving in as a tenant.
This is what the new playing card factory in Altenburg will look like.
Image: Panattoni
Shrinking City: “Who says it’s bad?”
The Lord Mayor expects 100 additional jobs to be created by the new building for the playing card factory. Around 330 people are already working at the current location. Altenburg’s future also depends on the games industry. “1,000 people die in Altenburg every year,” says Neumann. With around 400 births a year, he expects the population to fall from 31,000 to around 26,000. “Who says it’s bad?” the CDU man defends against an alleged small-town sadness. There are also positives in the shrinking process – if those who remained had work and could enjoy their city.
Neumann hopes investing in parlor games can have a domino effect. Altenburg offers plenty of free space for investors. “4.6 million people live within a 90-minute driving range,” he says. With this value, the small town can compete with the federal capital Berlin. According to the mayor, more people are already moving to Altenburg than away from the city. Altenburg has further plans, for example for a multimedia game world that is supposed to attract 76,000 guests per year – funded by the Thuringian Ministry of Economic Affairs.
Important tax revenue for the city
The fact that the Belgian parent company Cartamundi believes in the future viability of their city is well received by the people of Altenburg. “The investments are good,” says the pensioner Heidemarie Müller. “Then the taxes will be settled here. Otherwise the city will soon run out of money.”
One thing is clear: Big business is done elsewhere in the games industry. The US computer and online game “Call of Duty” generated three billion US dollars in 2020. So it announced the company Activision.
The fact that the Altenburg games cannot keep up with the digital competition is irrelevant to association representative Hutter. “I don’t see online games as direct competitors,” says Hutter. Because the popularity of “old-school” games is not being hampered by the digital trend. “Puzzling and laughing together creates a sense of togetherness. That’s still in demand.” Above all, parlor games – mostly made of cardboard and paper – created this togetherness.