WORLD OF STEIFF - FACTORY TOUR EXHIBIT
Famous Toy Museum of Stuffed Animal Dreams
For
lovers of stuffed animals, young and old, Steiff is king of the bears.
Margarete Steiff was born
in
1849 in Giengen an der Brenz, near
Ulm, Germany, the daughter an engineer. She suffered from polio as a
young child and in spite of paralized legs and a weak arm, she taught
herself
to sew and started making stuffed animals. She turned this into a small
business, selling her creations to local children, then, all around
Germany. Her
favorite nephew, Richard Steiff, was also an engineer and had an
idea
to make
a stuffed
bear with articulated arms and legs that would move. He took the innovative
toy to the Leipzig
Toy Fair where the bear came to the attention of an American
business man who thought of President Theodore Roosevelt, known
for his
hunting
of the real thing. The Steiff Bear 55 
became
known as the “Teddy Bear" with the name sticking to just
about any stuffed bear that followed. There
was another toy bear in America first nicknamed "Teddy's Bear", but it
was the Steiff model which
caught on, mostly because of the moving arms and legs and better quality.
They still make the Teddy Bear, but he's been surpassed over the years
by
more familiar
cartoon bruins. Margarete Steiff died in 1909, but her company Margarete
Steiff Gmbh has continued
on
as an
innovator
of stuffed furry animals and characters, known for the indentifying button
in their ears and Margarete’s motto “only the best is good
enough for children”, prized by children and legacy collectors
alike.
In
the small town of Giengen an der Brenz, just off the A7 autobahn near
Ulm, on the grounds of the
Steiff factory,
the “Welt von Steiff” World
of Steiff provides a magical journey into the land ruled by Margarete
and Richard’s “Teddy Bear” and other cuddly creations.
From the sales room (of course) surrounded by displays of the company’s
amazing array of creatures and characters, a ticket allows you entrance
into a little theater set up as Margarete Steiff’s 1800’s
sewing room. As the door closes and lights go down, the room comes to
life. Drawers open by themselves, a sewing machine begins to whirl and
an etheral voice tells the story of the
handicapped young girl
who built a toy empire.
After the magic show introduction, visitor groups of families and wide-eyed
children get on a massive futuristic elevator which rises through three
floors of fantasy displays, talking and moving stuffed animals and characters.
The marked tour route is guided by two principal
characters, "Freida" and her bear friend "Knopf". The enchanted tour
ends with a visit to a manufacture demonstration room where kids can
watch
the animals being hand sewn as they have been for 125 years.
Visiting the Steiff World Factory Tour Exhibit
The
tour performance is presented in German and English for separate groups,
so a small wait may be encountered
for the English version, but a small
price. Tour cost for adults is €8 and €5 for children. A family
ticket can be purchased for €20. It is recommended about two hours
be allowed for a visit to Steiff World and if you bring the kids, be
prepared to spend more thand a handful of Euros in the showroom.
The Steiff World site has an on premisies restaurant, the Knopf Bistro.
Other
sights to visit in the area are Charlotte’s Cave - the longest
underground dripstone cave in Germany, the “Romantic Road” medieval
town of Rothenberg and for the kids, Legoland in Günzburg is about
an hour away. Geingen an der Brenz is about two hours by car from Munich,
Frankfurt or
Stuttgart. A brown landmark sign for the Steiff Museum is visible from
the motorway and just follow the signs to the factory parking lot. The
museum is also reachable by train and a walk from the Geingen an der
Brenz rail station bahnhof. © Bargain
Travel Europe
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Steiff World
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See Also:
ROTHENBURG
OB DER TAUBER
HAMLEYS
TOY STORE - LONDON
