Margarete Steiff

Margarete Steiff ( born July 24, 1847 in Giengen; ibid † May 9, 1909; actually Apollonia Margarete Steiff ) was the founder of the world famous, like Spielwarenfabrik Steiff GmbH.

Life

Youth

Margarete Steiff was born as the third of four children of Mr and Mrs Frederick and Maria Margarete Steiff (born Hähnle and related products. Wulz ) in the Swabian Giengen. At the age of 18 months she fell ill with a high fever and was then partially paralyzed; later she was diagnosed with polio. The disease did not prevent developed Margarete Steiff into a happy child with above-average grades and great organizational skills. Whenever it allowed her time, Margaret played with the children in the village. They also looked after the children of mothers who had to work.

Her parents were quite strict held, so they lived on in the summer of 1856, while in the family of August Hermann Werner, founder of the Werner 's Hospital, lived. After surgery her legs, but did not help, Margaret came to the spa town of Bad Wildbad. She found the cure as enjoyment, even though she was separated by the stay in Ludwigsburg and Wildbad several months of her family. Your desire to visit the sewing school, she sat through against the will of the parents. Due to her paralysis she had indeed partially difficulties, but soon became a good seamstress.

Building a Business

1874 built her father Friedrich Steiff the house in the Ledergasse around and set up a tailor shop. Margaret and her sister had soon more and more work and were able to buy the first in Giengen own sewing machine. Although they could use the sewing machine only from the actually wrong side of because of their paralysis, Margaret quickly became very productive. 1877 opened on the advice of her in-laws cousin Wilhelm Adolf Glatz Filzgeschäft. From the store to a small business developed with several tenured seamstresses.

1879 Margarete Steiff discovered in a fashion magazine the pattern of an elephant and made with their seamstresses two sacks full of pincushion in the form of the elephant for Heidenheim market to. The Elefäntle were a huge success, were so then other animals designed and produced. Bought Margarete for the animals in 1886 nor 1460 Mark felt one, it was four years later, a post for 5070 marks. 1892 the first illustrated Steiff catalog. In addition to elephants, many other animals such as dogs, cats and horses belonging to the range. The catalog was also the motto of Margaret: " For kids only the best is good enough". 1893, sales of toys rose to 16,000 mark over the the felt goods. 1901, the toy was exported to the USA, the sales amounted to over 180,000 marks.

Developed in 1902 Richard Steiff, a nephew of the company founder, the flagship of the company: the teddy bear 55 PB, as one of the first of its kind (the invention is also attributed to others, see Teddy bear ); it was first produced unsuccessful. Only at the end of the Leipzig Toy Fair, where he was introduced, 3000 copies were sold.

Retirement

After 1906, the Margarete Steiff GmbH was launched, the management was handed over to the nephews Margarete Steiff. By 1907, the number of stitched teddy bear rose to 973 999. In addition, 400 employees and 1,800 home workers presented a total of about 1,700,000 Gaming Items ago. On May 9, 1909 Margarete Steiff died at the age of 61 years from the effects of pneumonia.

Legacy

• In the world of Steiff visitors are shown the history of the teddy bears and the company's history.
• The factory buildings, popularly called " Mermaid Aquarium", set new accents in the history of architecture.
• In Giengen the local high school was named after Margarete Steiff.
• The television film Margarete Steiff (2005) with Heike Makatsch in the title role, directed by Xaver Schwarzenberger deals with the life of the entrepreneur up to their first commercial success.