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WORLD OF STEIFF
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 uffered from polio as a young child and inspite 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 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. 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 ground 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 a voice begins to tell the story of the handicapped young girl who built a toy empire. After the magic show introduction visitors of families and wide-eyed children get on a massive futuristic elevator that takes you 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.

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 price 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 some Euros in the showroom. There is an onsite 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 about an hour away. Geingen 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 walk from the Geingen an der Brenz rail station bahnhof. © Bargain Travel Europe

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Welt von Steiff

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See Also:

ROTHENBURG OB DER TAUBER

HAMLEYS TOY STORE LONDON

HOHENZOLLERN CASTLE
Castle in the Clouds

BERLIN ZOO

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