Or keeping over 1000 collectors items in the attic. All this is by no means just a hobby, it is a passion born of their professionalism and precision. Let us show you behind the scenes at the homes of Torsten Schwarz and Oliver Thum.

When the journalist’s phone call arrives, Torsten Schwarz is in the spare parts warehouse at Ehingen. As the Control Stand Shift Leader, he has over 100,000 parts which Liebherr customers need for their mobile and crawler cranes. “I’ve held every one of them in my hand at one time or another. After 26 years, I know exactly what the products look like and where they are fitted.” And we could add that Torsten Schwarz can look at all these parts from very close and can also handle them and turn them over, as long as they are not too heavy.

And he has certainly done that with some of them in the project he started in 2018 to create a complete replica. In spring of that year, he took the first step to create one of the 7,805 individual components which, three and a half years later, would form the LR 1750.

His conversations with colleagues in the training centre were also helpful, particularly those involving tricky questions. “At what angle are the lattice sections installed? What is the reeving sequence using the rope pulleys? What load case is suitable for this crane configuration?” According to Schwarz, he now understands many of the products better. “When you’re building a model you realise that our designers had all sorts of thoughts relating to every detail!” It is these colleagues who are now giving admiring looks to the glass-fronted cabinet at the Meeting Point in the training centre.

It is these colleagues who are now giving admiring looks to the glass-fronted cabinet at the Meeting Point in the training centre. Crane fan Schwarz was delighted to put his masterpiece on display there. “It’s the perfect place because the people who will look at it there are the ones who operate and understand these machines. To be honest, I am also happy to have a bit more space in my workshop again!” The relocation to “home” was straightforward as the crane, like its big brothers, can be dismantled into individual components for transport. Naturally, the chains move, the boom can be raised, lowered and slewed.

So what next? Now it’s winter, the workshop is cold and the television is working. But there is no chance of him suffering spring fatigue: “On my next project as well, I’ll be in the workshop sometimes at half three in the morning. When I get going on something, I simply can’t stop!”

Training as a crane builder and operator essentially saw Oliver Thum continue along the route that had started when he was a child. At the time, he accompanied his father, the owner of a crane contracting firm, to many sites such as the construction of the Brenner motorway. “Sometimes I travelled back at night by taxi because my father had to stay.” When you talk to the man approaching his 60th birthday, his clear voice and precise wording quickly show you that a life full of sites must be wonderful, challenging, educational and simply fantastic. And the whole thing continues in his attic. An attic approaching bursting point. With model cranes. Crane models. The first one he received from his father for his 2nd birthday has been joined by well over 1,000 more. “The rather gloomy 80 square meters contains all types and sizes including a few construction machines and heavy haulage vehicles. The collection also contains a few publicity models in the original paintwork which you get either direct from the crane contractor or from model makers.” Whether it takes luck, or contacts – the main thing is getting the crane. For example, he received a gift of a telescopic crane he had helped to develop to celebrate its 30th anniversary from Taiwanese model maker YCC in original Schmidbauer livery. “It is the number 1 of 200. With a certificate number!” Oliver Thum’s pride shines out clearly on the telephone. His pride is driven by passion, a passion which often leads him to opening his doors at his home town of Rum near Innsbruck. “Come round if you’re in the neighbourhood!” Many people have taken up this invitation. In addition to acquaintances and customers, they include all the leading model manufacturers such as Conrad, YCC and WSI. “Even Liebherr personnel have visited my attic!”

He used to make lots of models with Lego, but now he continually checks his vast to ensure everything moves correctly. There is less and less space available, although he has plenty of scope in his house. This may change, however, if he starts looking longingly at his daughter’s room when she moves out shortly. “I think I would have to do a lot of work to really convince my wife,”says the crane fanatic laughing

Until then, he will continue to collect, paint and drive to the annual get-together in the Netherlands. That event sees a gathering of passionate collectors from all over the world to swap models and show off others they have built themselves. One good thing for Thum is that when there is no model in sight or the attic is too warm, he can sort things out himself. Recently, he even manoeuvred a crane again and during our phone call he was travelling to his current project, a major site near Salzburg. Just before he arrived, Thum shared a story of bright pink crane romanticism involving large crane contractor Franz Bracht, based in northern Germany, whose owner Dirk Bracht is himself a collector of models and genuine vintage cranes, giving his daughter an original pink crane to celebrate her birth. Thum also has a pink crane in his glass-fronted cabinet – of course he has. What he does not yet have, however, is the blue one that Bracht gave as a present to his secondborn. So a new crane is likely to be added to the collection at any time!

This article was published in the UpLoad magazine 01 | 2022.