EXCEPTIONAL MODEL OF THE SS KRONPRINZESSIN CECILIE (CROWN PRINCESS CECILE), GEBRUDER FLEISCHMANN NURNBERG, NUREMBURG, GERMANY, CIRCA 1907

SS Kronprinzessin Cecilie (Crown Princess Cecilie) was an ocean liner built in Stettin, Germany (now Szczecin, Poland), in 1906 for North German Lloyd Steamship Company that had the largest steam reciprocating machinery ever fitted to a ship. The last of four ships of the Kaiser class, she was also the last German ship to have been built with four funnels. She was engaged in transatlantic service between her homeport of Bremen and New York until the outbreak of World War I.

This exceptional model was built in 1907 on a scale of 1:100 by the Fleischmann company which is one of Nuremburg, Germany's oldest toy makers. It was established in 1887 by Jean Fleischmann. Early products included ships and magnetic maritime toys such as swimming animals, walking animals and water fountains. These were produced under the name Gebruder Fleischmann Nurnberg (GFN) also known as Fleischmann brothers. One of the companies that Fleischmann supplied was Bing. The company won a gold medal at the World Exhibition in Brussels in 1910 for the quality of its toys – the winning entry being a this fine ship model of Crown Princess Cecilie.