--- title: "Leuchtturm1917 History: From Stamp Albums to Notebooks" canonical: "https://stationerytimes.com/stories/leuchtturm1917-history/" description: "Leuchtturm1917 history: Paul Koch founded his first album firm in 1917 and Leuchtturm in Hamburg in 1948. The Stürken family runs it; no outside group owns it." category: "Stories" published: 2026-10-22 updated: 2026-10-22 author: "Ellis Penhale" publisher: "Stationery Times" sources: 7 organizations: - name: "Leuchtturm Gruppe GmbH & Co. KG" country: "Germany" founded: "1917" source: "https://www.leuchtturm.de/ueber-uns/" - name: "LEUCHTTURM1917 GmbH" country: "Germany" parent: "Leuchtturm Gruppe GmbH & Co. KG" brands: ["Leuchtturm1917"] source: "https://www.leuchtturm1917.de/denken-mit-der-hand/ueber-leuchtturm1917/unsere-marke/" --- # Leuchtturm1917 History: From Stamp Albums to Notebooks > Leuchtturm1917 is the notebook brand of the Leuchtturm group of Geesthacht, near Hamburg, a family company best known for stamp and coin albums. The 1917 is the year printer Paul Koch founded his first album firm; he started Leuchtturm in Hamburg in 1948. Axel and Max Stürken run it today, and no outside group owns it. - URL: https://stationerytimes.com/stories/leuchtturm1917-history/ - Category: Stories - Author: Ellis Penhale - Published: 2026-10-22 - Updated: 2026-10-22 ![A navy hardcover Leuchtturm1917 notebook with elastic band and ribbon beside a company timeline from 1917 to 2014](https://stationerytimes.com/images/raster/leuchtturm1917-history-16x9.png) *Seven dates in the Leuchtturm story, from Paul Koch's first album firm in 1917 to the Bullet Journal edition, as the company's German pages give them.* Original drawing (SVG): . Drawings © 2026 Stationery Times, reusable with credit under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). ## Key takeaways - Lithographer Paul Koch founded the KABE album firm in Aschersleben in 1917, lost it in the 1930s and founded the Leuchtturm Albenverlag in Hamburg in 1948. - Wolfgang Schön (1914–1996) joined as managing partner in 1959 and put Kurt Stürken in charge of exports in 1962; Kurt Stürken became his partner in 1972. - In 1997 Leuchtturm bought KABE, reuniting both of Paul Koch's firms; Axel Stürken joined as managing partner that year and Max Stürken in 2003. - Leuchtturm says it employs 600 people in Geesthacht and has its own subsidiaries in the US, China and Canada; Leuchtturm1917 GmbH is the group's stationery company. - Ryder Carroll asked Leuchtturm1917 for a Bullet Journal edition for his September 2014 Kickstarter; after it sold out, the two became lasting partners. Leuchtturm1917 notebooks look like a young brand, but the company behind them has been printing albums for stamp collectors for a century. Every date below comes from the Leuchtturm group's and Leuchtturm1917's own German pages, translated by us, plus Ryder Carroll's account of the Bullet Journal. ## What is the history of Leuchtturm1917? **Leuchtturm1917 is the notebook brand of the Leuchtturm group, a family company in Geesthacht near Hamburg that grew out of a stamp-album firm founded in 1917.** Its founder, the lithographer Paul Koch, started the Leuchtturm Albenverlag in Hamburg in 1948, and the group still calls itself the world's leading maker of accessories for stamp and coin collectors. The notebooks come from a sister company, Leuchtturm1917 GmbH, registered in Geesthacht. Leuchtturm1917's German brand page says it belongs to the Leuchtturm Gruppe GmbH & Co. KG, a family-run company with its home in Geesthacht. Our [who owns which stationery brands](https://stationerytimes.com/stories/who-owns-which-stationery-brands/) story covers the groups that own other notebook brands. ## Leuchtturm timeline: 1917 to today **The story runs from Paul Koch's first album firm in 1917 to the Bullet Journal partnership of 2014.** Dates are from the Leuchtturm group's "Über uns" page unless noted. | Date | Event | Source | |---|---|---| | 1917 | Paul Koch and a partner named Bein found the KABE album firm (Koch & Bein) in Aschersleben | Leuchtturm | | 1930s | Koch has to sell KABE for economic reasons | Leuchtturm | | 1948 | Koch founds the Leuchtturm Albenverlag in Hamburg | Leuchtturm | | 1953 | KABE, nationalized in East Germany, is refounded in Göppingen by its owners | Leuchtturm | | 1959 | Hamburg merchant Wolfgang Schön joins as managing partner | Leuchtturm | | 1962 | Schön puts Kurt Stürken in charge of exports | Leuchtturm | | 1972 | Kurt Stürken becomes Schön's partner | Leuchtturm | | 1990 | Leuchtturm buys the rights to the French MOC albums | Leuchtturm | | 1997 | Leuchtturm buys KABE, reuniting Koch's two firms; Axel Stürken joins as managing partner | Leuchtturm | | 2003 | Max Stürken joins as managing partner | Leuchtturm | | September 2014 | Ryder Carroll's Kickstarter offers a limited Leuchtturm1917 Bullet Journal edition | Bullet Journal | | Today | Leuchtturm1917 GmbH, Geesthacht, led by Philip Döbler, Axel Stürken and Max Stürken | Leuchtturm1917 legal notice | ## Who founded Leuchtturm? **Paul Koch, a lithographic printer and keen stamp collector, founded both of the firms the group grew from.** In 1917, with a partner named Bein, he set up a firm in Aschersleben, in today's Saxony-Anhalt, to make stamp albums, and named it KABE after Koch and Bein. Leuchtturm says Koch had to sell KABE in the 1930s for economic reasons. After the war he started again with little capital, founding the Leuchtturm Albenverlag in Hamburg in 1948, again to make stamp albums. KABE survived the war under its new owners. When East Germany nationalized it, they fled west and rebuilt it in Göppingen in 1953, and the two firms later worked closely together. In 1997, when KABE's owners had no successor, Leuchtturm bought it, uniting both of Koch's firms. ## Why is it called Leuchtturm1917? **Leuchtturm is German for "lighthouse", and 1917 is the year the company counts as its founding, the year Paul Koch started KABE.** Leuchtturm1917's English brand page says the name reflects a traditional family company that upholds Hanseatic values in northern Germany. The date can confuse readers, because the firm called Leuchtturm dates from 1948 and the company that owns the brand today was first an album publisher. Leuchtturm1917's pages make the link through Koch: they describe more than 100 years of experience in high-quality stationery, counted from 1917. ## How did the Stürken family come to run Leuchtturm? **Through exports: Wolfgang Schön, who joined in 1959, hired Kurt Stürken to sell Leuchtturm's albums abroad in 1962, and made him his partner in 1972.** Leuchtturm says Schön had lived in Asia for many years representing German trading firms, and saw the company's future in exports. Leuchtturm now calls itself the world's largest exporter of stamp and coin collecting supplies. It says Wolfgang Schön (1914–1996) set the course that made it an international company, and the Stürken family has carried it on. Kurt Stürken's sons Axel and Max joined as managing partners in 1997 and 2003. Leuchtturm1917 calls itself a fourth-generation family business that Axel and Max Stürken have run since the 1990s. ## When did Leuchtturm1917 start making notebooks? **Leuchtturm1917 doesn't publish the year its notebooks launched; its pages count the brand's history from 1917.** The group's own history is about albums, and neither site gives a date for the first notebook or planner. What the brand does describe is the design: numbered pages, a blank table of contents, page markers, perforated sheets and archiving labels, on chamois-colored paper of 80 to 100 g/m². Our [Leuchtturm1917 Medium A5](https://stationerytimes.com/guides/leuchtturm1917-a5-notebook/) and [Pocket A6](https://stationerytimes.com/guides/leuchtturm1917-pocket-a6-notebook/) guides cover today's sizes and page counts, and our [Moleskine vs Leuchtturm1917](https://stationerytimes.com/guides/moleskine-vs-leuchtturm1917/) comparison sets the two side by side. ## How did Leuchtturm1917 become the Bullet Journal notebook? **Ryder Carroll, who created the Bullet Journal method, chose Leuchtturm1917 for a special edition for his Kickstarter backers in September 2014.** Carroll's story page says he had become a convert to the notebook after hosts of the Pen Addict podcast introduced him to it. His Kickstarter, to fund a new website, met its goal in eight hours. When the notebooks sold out and backers were upset, Carroll says, he went back to Leuchtturm1917 and they decided to partner. Leuchtturm1917 now sells the [Bullet Journal Edition 2](https://stationerytimes.com/guides/leuchtturm1917-bullet-journal-edition-2/), with 120 g/m² paper, which it describes as developed with Carroll. Our guide on [how to start a bullet journal](https://stationerytimes.com/guides/how-to-start-a-bullet-journal/) covers the method. ## Who owns Leuchtturm1917 today? **The Leuchtturm Gruppe GmbH & Co. KG, a family company in Geesthacht, owns the brand; no outside investor or larger group is named on its pages.** The legal notices of Leuchtturm1917 GmbH and of Leuchtturm GmbH both list Axel Stürken, Max Stürken and Philip Döbler as managing directors. The group says it employs 600 people in Geesthacht, supplies more than 3,500 retailers in eight European countries directly, and has its own subsidiaries in the US, China and Canada. ## What couldn't we confirm? **We found no Leuchtturm page that dates the first Leuchtturm1917 notebook or the founding of Leuchtturm1917 GmbH.** Some blogs say the group moved into stationery in 2005; we couldn't confirm that on a company page, so we leave it out of the timeline. Leuchtturm1917's "fourth generation" also isn't explained on its pages. The group's history shows a line of leaders, from Paul Koch to Wolfgang Schön to Kurt Stürken and his sons, rather than one family across four generations, so we report the phrase as the company's own. Nor do the pages say when the group moved from Hamburg to Geesthacht, or exactly when in the 1930s Koch sold KABE. ## Frequently asked questions ### What does Leuchtturm mean? Lighthouse. Leuchtturm1917 says the name comes from its parent, the Leuchtturm Gruppe, and reflects a family company with Hanseatic values in northern Germany. Paul Koch gave the name to the album firm he founded in Hamburg in 1948. ### Was Leuchtturm1917 founded in 1917? Its roots go back to 1917, the year the company counts as its founding: Paul Koch, a lithographer and stamp collector, set up his first stamp-album firm, KABE, in Aschersleben that year. The Leuchtturm firm itself followed in Hamburg in 1948. ### Is Leuchtturm1917 a German company? Yes. Leuchtturm1917 GmbH is registered in Geesthacht, near Hamburg, and belongs to the family-run Leuchtturm Gruppe GmbH & Co. KG. Some of its notebooks are made abroad: retailers list Germany for some batches and Taiwan for others. ### Who owns Leuchtturm1917? The Leuchtturm Gruppe GmbH & Co. KG, a family company led by the Stürken family. Axel and Max Stürken are managing directors of both the group and Leuchtturm1917 GmbH, with Philip Döbler, according to the two companies' legal notices. ### Does Leuchtturm still make stamp albums? Yes. The Leuchtturm group calls itself the world's largest maker of stockbooks for stamps and sells more than 4,000 items for stamp and coin collectors, and lately for trading cards too, alongside the Leuchtturm1917 notebooks. ### How did Leuchtturm1917 get the Bullet Journal? Through Ryder Carroll's Kickstarter of September 2014. He asked Leuchtturm1917 for a special notebook for backers; the limited edition sold out, and he says he went back to the company and they agreed to partner. Leuchtturm1917 now sells the Bullet Journal Edition 2. ### Were Leuchtturm1917 notebooks made in 1917? Not as far as the company's pages show. Leuchtturm1917 describes over 100 years of making stationery, counted from 1917, but give no launch year for the notebook line, and the group's own history is about albums. ## Sources - [Leuchtturm (German): Über uns (Paul Koch and KABE 1917; Leuchtturm Albenverlag 1948; Wolfgang Schön 1959; Kurt Stürken 1962 and 1972; MOC 1990; KABE 1997; Axel and Max Stürken 1997 and 2003; 600 staff)](https://www.leuchtturm.de/ueber-uns/) - [LEUCHTTURM1917 (German): Unsere Marke (founded 1917; part of Leuchtturm Gruppe GmbH & Co. KG, Geesthacht)](https://www.leuchtturm1917.de/denken-mit-der-hand/ueber-leuchtturm1917/unsere-marke/) - [LEUCHTTURM1917: Our brand (the name means lighthouse; 1917 is the founding year)](https://www.leuchtturm1917.com/denken-mit-der-hand/leuchtturm1917/our-brand/) - [LEUCHTTURM1917 (German): Impressum (Leuchtturm1917 GmbH, Geesthacht, HRB 25429 HL; managing directors)](https://www.leuchtturm1917.de/impressum/) - [Leuchtturm (German): Impressum (Leuchtturm GmbH, Geesthacht, HRB 25380 HL; managing directors)](https://www.leuchtturm.de/impressum/) - [LEUCHTTURM1917 US: About (fourth-generation family company; paper 80 to 100 g/m²)](https://www.leuchtturm1917.us/pages/about) - [Bullet Journal: Story (bulletjournal.com launched August 8, 2013; Kickstarter and Leuchtturm1917 edition, September 2014)](https://bulletjournal.com/pages/story)