Astromedia
Astromedia: Build your own microscope, the camera obscura (the mother of all cameras), the Galileo telescope, a desktop planetarium or a sundial. Experiment with the Goethe color glasses, with magnets and different lenses. Or are you looking for a pocket generator for your mobile phone?
Astromedia is known for such ideas. You can build many things yourself, other products can simply be assembled from cardboard and the like. Especially the scientific material is often used in classes to understand science. Feel free to ask us about classroom sets with price discounts.
AstroMedia – High-Quality Educational Resources and Educational Products at SchenkSpass Shop
Enthusiasm and luck – these are, according to his own account, the most important companions on Klaus Hünig's journey to the AstroMedia Verlag. In the mid-70s, Hünig was still a teacher at the Waldorf School in Würzburg when he, together with his wife Renate, developed "The Würzburg Game." Instead of teaching the history of the city of Würzburg through dull frontal lectures, he encouraged his students to playfully explore their hometown by rolling dice from one attraction to another. This success prompted Hünig to sell the game beyond the school community, marking the birth of the Würzburg Game Society, the predecessor of today's AstroMedia Verlag.
Driven by the desire to make his teaching more engaging and tangible for his students, Hünig continued his journey for many years. In the early 80s, the development of the "Great Starry Sky," a dome-shaped, distortion-free star chart, laid the foundation for AstroMedia's success story. The kit was sold to support the young Waldorf School in Würzburg, and to expand its distribution, Klaus Hünig wrote to numerous newspapers and magazines. Among them was Der Spiegel, which picked up the story and gave the Würzburg Game Society its first big boost. "People started ordering like crazy for the first time," recalls Klaus Hünig, who received thousands of orders thanks to the feature in Der Spiegel.
Following the "Great Starry Sky," the years brought not only more cardboard construction kits, initially in the field of astronomy but later also in mathematics and physics, especially optics. Consequently, it was only logical that the small company renamed itself AstroMedia Verlag in the mid-80s. Finally, in 1995, it was registered as a brand.
In 1997, Klaus Hünig left his teaching profession behind and fully dedicated himself to his publishing company. Over the following years, he developed numerous kits and expanded direct sales. AstroMedia was among the early adopters to provide online shopping for its customers.
Klaus Hünig achieved a significant breakthrough in the business by developing a solar viewing glasses in advance of the total solar eclipse in Germany in 1999. What he calls "tremendous luck," others might describe as having a keen sense for the right opportunities. The demand was enormous, with 17 million glasses sold by him and several licensees prior to the August 11, 1999 event. This success catapulted the small publishing company into a completely new league. "It was a special challenge to make good use of the time after such a success," reflects Hünig. To create more time for expanding the product line, especially developing new articles, he transferred the publishing and distribution to SunWatch Verlag. Its owner, Nils Rhode, began overseeing not only the graphic design of the products but also handling relationships with retailers and end customers.
The AstroMedia program continued to evolve. Today, its product range includes not only astronomy materials and hands-on astronomy, but also the popular series "Fun Crafting that Creates Knowledge" and materials for do-it-yourself enthusiasts. Today, AstroMedia is the largest provider of fully functional cardboard construction kits for scientific and technical instruments and apparatus.
Although Klaus Hünig is now in retirement age, he has no intention of slowing down. A recent restructuring of the publishing and distribution company in 2018/2019 has allowed him to fully concentrate on his inventions and developments once again. Since 2019, Jürgen Lehmann, as the CEO of AstroMedia GmbH, has been steering the company's operations and, together with his team in Waltrop, is responsible for purchasing, marketing, and sales of AstroMedia products.
Enthusiasm and luck – according to Klaus Hünig, these are the most important companions on his way to AstroMedia Verlag. In the mid-1970s, when Hünig was still a teacher at the Waldorf School in Würzburg, he and his wife Renate developed “The Würzburg Game”. Instead of going through the history of the city of Würzburg through flat frontal teaching, his students should playfully explore their hometowns by rolling the dice from one sight to another. A success that Hünig took as an opportunity to sell the game outside the school circle. That was the birth of the Würzburgspiel-Gesellschaft, the predecessor of today's AstroMedia Verlag.
Making his lessons more interesting and more tangible for his students drove Hünig for many years. At the beginning of the 1980s, the development of the large starry sky followed a dome-shaped, low-distortion star map with which the actual AstroMedia success story began. The kit was sold for the benefit of the still young Würzburg Waldorf School, and Klaus Hünig wrote to numerous newspapers and magazines in order to broaden his distribution. Among them: Der Spiegel. They took up the story and helped the Würzburgspiel-Gesellschaft to get its first boost. "People started ordering like crazy for the first time," remembers Klaus Hünig, who, thanks to the report in Der Spiegel, was able to look forward to several thousand orders.
The big starry sky was followed by a first sundial and over the years many other cardboard kits - first from the field of astronomy, later mathematics and physics, especially optics. So it was only logical that the small company changed its name to AstroMedia Verlag in the mid-1980s. Finally, in 1995, it was entered into the trademark register.
In 1997 Klaus Hünig switched from being a teacher to his publishing company, developed numerous kits and expanded direct sales in the following years. AstroMedia was one of the companies that offered their customers an online shop early on.
Klaus Hünig celebrated his economic breakthrough with the development of sunglasses in the run-up to the total solar eclipse in Germany in 1999. What he himself calls “a great fortune”, others probably describe in German as "having the right nose". The demand was huge: he and several licensees sold 17 million glasses in the run-up to August 11, 1999. The event catapulted the small publisher into a whole new weight class.
"It was a special challenge to make good use of the time after such a success," says Hünig in retrospect. In order to find more time for the expansion of the range, in particular the development of new articles, he transferred publishing and sales to SunWatch Verlag, whose owner Nils Rhode from then on not only took care of the graphic design of the products but also of dealers and end customers.
The AstroMedia program continued to develop: The product range now includes not only Astro materials and astronomy you can touch but also the popular series of handicraft fun that creates knowledge and material for do-it-yourselfers. Today, AstroMedia is the largest supplier of fully functional cardboard kits for scientific and technical instruments and apparatus.
In the meantime Klaus Hünig has reached retirement age but is far from thinking about retiring. Another restructuring of the publishing and sales departments in 2018/2019 now allows him to concentrate fully on his inventions and developments. As Managing Director of AstroMedia GmbH, Jürgen Lehmann has been in charge of the publishing house since 2019 and, together with his team in Waltrop, takes care of purchasing, marketing and sales of AstroMedia products.