Dear collectors of ship miniatures,

The 2024 gathering is now history, but as the saying goes: After Kassel is before Kassel! Many of you bid farewell with this phrase at the end of the meeting last Saturday - still with the characteristic Kassel sparkle in your eyes.

We, the organizing team, are very grateful for the praise and support received before, during, and after the event. We all agree that the effort was worth it, and we are delighted that the International Collectors' Meeting was so well received by so many of you. We too felt that the atmosphere was exceptionally good and were impressed by the excellent range of models that were on display and available for purchase, as well as the diverse conversations that took place everywhere. After all, besides the models, the exchange with like-minded people is the key highlight.

The question about the number of participants came up multiple times. The exact count is challenging to determine because some visitors attended in a "dual role," especially some second-hand sellers and their helpers, who were involved in setting up before 10:00 but later acted more as model hunters than sellers. Excluding the sellers themselves, the number of visitors is estimated between 230 and 250. Including all participants, the total number ranges from 300 to 330, which we find very encouraging. The trend is upward!

We would like to thank all exhibitors, visitors, and fellow supporters who made this meeting so successful with their help and participation, especially Carlo and Manuela Marquardt for their generous donation of promotional models. Our gratitude also goes once again to the Schade family, who kept this meeting alive for so long and whose work we are now privileged to continue. We eagerly look forward to seeing you again in Kassel 2026 and hope it will enjoy similarly high participation.

Best regards from Vienna,
Florian Österreicher