Although it originally specialised in doll house accessories, today it is best known for model railways and technical toys.

To this end, Märklin offered additional rolling stock and track with which to expand its boxed sets.

In 1994 Märklin acquired the Nuremberg based model train manufacturer Trix producing DC-operated HO and N scale.

Although Märklin is best known for its trains, from 1914 to 1999, the company produced mechanical construction sets similar to Meccano and Erector.

In the late 1990s, Märklin purchased the assets of Trix in January 1997, thus adding N gauge to their scale lineup.

On 11 May 2006, the company, which had until then been owned by the three families Märklin, Friz and Safft, was sold to the British investment group Kingsbridge Capital, with the support of the employees.

During the 2020-2021 COVID pandemic, Märklin saw an upswing in sales, leading to shortages of parts such as rails, and even found they had to hire new employees and apprentices to meet the demand.

[1] The Märklin system is the technique of using a third rail concealed in the roadbed with only small studs protruding through the ties of the track.

This provides the simplified wiring enjoyed by larger gauges—such as for reverse loops—without seriously detracting from the realism of the track because only two of the rails are visible.

This older system is compatible with newer trains, although the reduced clearance for the pick-up shoe can sometimes cause running difficulties.

In January 2005, the Märklin museum in Göppingen, Germany, was burgled and more than 100 pieces, with an estimated value of more than 1 million Euros, were stolen.

The items, which included one-of-a-kind prototypes along with pieces that dated back to 1891, were recovered in March 2005.

The largest segment of product range and sales is nominal size H0, with a scale of 1:87 and an H0 track.

The company is market leader in H0 in German-speaking countries (Germany, Austria and Switzerland), having a market-share of approximately 50 per cent.

Also, in this area Märklin is the only company to offer a complete assortment of goods - the range in this track size consists of a huge variety of rolling stock, tracks, analog as well as digital control systems, trolley systems and other accessory parts.