The company was established in 1928 as "Tintenkuli Handels GmbH". The company's first product was the "Tintenkuli", a type of
pen with a narrow steel tube instead of a conventional
nib. While
fountain pens were already common in America, they had not been previously marketed in Europe. In 1934, Rotring launched the "Multipen", a
mechanical pencil that allowed the variation of colors, with four of them contained on each pencil. Although stylographs never overtook fountain pens for use in writing, by 1953 the Rotring "Rapidograph" model became the prototypical
technical pen of its age, establishing the Rapidograph Inc. in the
United States one year later. Its technology virtually replaced the
ruling pen and greatly simplified technical drawing. During the first decade of the 2000s Rotring released some lines of fountain and ballpoint pens, the "Skynn" (2003) and the "Newton" (2005). In 2014, the brand introduced the "800+", a
hybrid mechanical pencil that could be used on both mediums, paper and
touchscreens. It was advertised with the slogan "Think on paper + Think on digital". The Rotring 600 ballpoint pen was re-introduced in 2018 alongside the Rotring 800 ballpoint, which was the re-release of the 600 Gold ballpoint pen. == Products ==