You know how travel and airplane magazines feature articles on "the perfect day in..." or "how to spend a few hours at..."? And it always seems that the recommended plans and itineraries sound too good to be true! Well, in this case, Steiffgal did indeed spend an "ideal" day at the Steiff Sommer Festival in Giengen, Germany - the birthplace of Steiff and the Teddy bear - on July 4th, 2015. Check out this travel diary entry and hopefully it might tempt you too to join in the fun next year!
A cosy, clean, and convenient place to stay in Giengen is the Lobinger Hotel in Giengen, which is just about a 20 minute walk or a 3 minute car ride from the Steiff campus. Here is the "first thing in the morning view" from the fourth floor, where Steiffgal's room was located. This was taken out of an interesting skylight style window with a mechanical shade. Steiffgal found both a little confusing to open and close, but got the hang of it after a few minutes of trial and error.
Of course, the perfect day must start with a perfect meal, and the Lobinger's expansive breakfast buffet offered something for everyone. There were many universal selections, like eggs, toast, juice, and fruit, but also some more distinctly European ones too, like savory cheeses, vegetable salads, and sausages. Steiffgal particularly got a kick out of the yogurt selections, including some multi-flavored ones that were spotted like cows - these are pictured here on the left.
After breakfast, Steiffgal and pals headed "down the hill" to Steiff to start enjoying all that the festival had to offer. The entire town seemed to welcomed visitors with "teddy hugs!" There was no charge to enter or enjoy the festival, and it was clear that despite the temperatures (about 100 degrees Fahrenheit!) that collectors and enthusiasts from around the world took advantage of this once a year opportunity to gather and "Live the Steiff Life" in Giengen. There were many interesting event related attractions set up on the outer skirts of the campus. Among others, these included:
1. Vendor pavilions which were made from white tents. These sold all sorts of locally produced foods (like honey and jams) and decorative items (like clothing, carved wood accessories, marvelously designed felt items, and jewelry.) These really added to the authenticity of the event, giving it a delightful community feeling.
2. An animal petting zoo, which featured families of rabbits, guinea pigs, and a variety of different birds - including this extremely precious family of little yellow ducks! These sweet friends were well cared for, and well watered, but seemed to feel the heat like everyone that day. This area, which is set up each year at festival, is always one of Steiffgal's favorite destinations.
3. A BMW/Steiff racing team area. Steiff sponsors several exciting things in Japan, one of them being the BMW racing team. As such, the Steiff logo is prominently displayed on the driver's uniforms and cars. This year, Steiff and BMW brought a real racing car to Giengen, and set up a driving simulator that all the attendees could try. Several members of the Japanese driving team and their supporters made appearances and gave presentations throughout the day. As part of this delightful "cultural exchange," there was a special tent set up with rare Steiff Japanese exclusives available for purchase. Steiffgal loved finally seeing the long awaited Godzilla limited edition in person!
Of course, its critical to keep your energy levels high at a special event such as this one. As such, there were lots of ways to keep your belly full and happy! This year's festival featured:
1. Food, glorious food! From dawn till dusk, several tents worth of local caterers prepared local delicacies for festival attendees. Selections included a variety of sausages; salads, flat white pizzas; and of course, several varieties of French fries. One stand made a very interesting pasta dish... hot buttered noodles that were finished by stirring them around in a bowled out area of a large wheel of Gruyere cheese. This all but guaranteed that every strand was covered in pure deliciousness.
2. Beverages of all sorts. It is essential to keep hydrated at such a celebration, and beer is the best way to do so by far. To keep up with demand, this festival featured several outdoor beer vendors and a central "biergarten" area. When you purchased a beer, you were given a little paper receipt for the glass. Once you finished the drink, you would drop off the glass at a return center, hand the attendant the paper, and then get your beverage glass deposit back. Here on the left you can see a photo of Steiffgal's Steiffpal and long time traveling companion Carolyn enjoying a cold one in the best way possible in the Steiff Sommer biergarten.
If you were in search of the perfect souvenir, there were basically three options for both new and vintage enthusiasts.
1. For the collectors of all things new, Steiff's festival tent was a great place to be. Here visitors were treated to countless new Steiff goodies, many at extremely good prices. Some were seconds, others samples, and others overproduced items. But all featured their buttons, and of course, Steiff's legendary quality. The tent itself was huge, fully covered, and featured rolling carts and stations loaded with merchandise. These areas were replenished throughout the day, so many people literally "camped out" in the tent waiting for the newest items to be presented. You can see one of these sale carts here on the left. The sales tent also had areas featuring studio animals for sale, as well as very sweet baby items. Steiffgal purchased several things in the tent, including a few alpaca cats, some key rings, a mohair rabbit, and a mohair ox.
2. Adjacent to the sales tent was another smaller tent that sold accessories, clothing, collars, and other materials that could be used for Teddy bear and animal manufacturing and decoration. These items were for the most part overstocks or excess inventory, and were relatively inexpensive. There were always alot of people in line to shop here. These tended to be folks who made their own bears who purchased supplies like embroidery floss, or those who liked to dress their Steiff items who tended buy things like tiny sweaters, boots, or neckerchiefs. Steiffgal got a number of tiny denim dresses and brown studded leather collars which were made for past Steiff editions at this booth. Here on the left you can see a photo of Steiffgal's fully jointed Dutch Rabbit named Sarah who is wearing one of these Steiff "overstock" frocks.
3. This festival usually attracts some of the world's finest vintage dealers, and this year was no different. Dealers were set up in a large dedicated sales tent. This was a first, as dealers traditionally have been located in areas within Steiff's buildings for past events. This particular sales tent seemed to be the location where many happy Steiff reunions happened, as old friends - and new - bumped into each other in their quest to find their perfect vintage treasures.
There were so many breathtaking rarities to see in the 2015 vintage sales area. A large cinnamon colored Steiff Treff bloodhound, a dressed rabbit doll, and several early Teddy baby bears really caught Steiffgal's eye - but were all far beyond her budget. Steiffgal purchased several "wish list" items in the vintage area for friends and family, as well as a 1930's era Sealyham on wheels and a 1920's era "swing duck" rattle toy for her own collection. Above on the left is a photo of Steiffgal in the vintage sales tent holding an absolutely remarkable and extremely unusual Steiff ram in pristine condition that now belongs to a dear colleague of hers.
A trip through the Steiff Museum is cornerstone to any visit to Giengen - festival related or not. This wonderful destination was recently remodeled and updated. There are things for families as well as serious collectors to enjoy. There is also an enormous snake shaped mohair slide that goes from one floor to another featured in the center of the complex. Despite her claustrophobia, Steiffgal could not pass up the chance to give the slide a try. Happily, she survived the 10 second ride! One highlight of the museum is an enormous glassed in wall display that shows representative products and designs per decade, starting in the late 1800's through today. It is awe inspiring to see treasures such as the first Steiff doll, a Dolly bear, felt pincushions, and one of a kind samples from the turn of last century. Pictured above on the left is a wonderful presentation of many of our favorite vintage friends from this museum display, including Molliette, Molly, Bully, and Fluffiette.
The "crown jewel" of Steiff's annual Sommer Festival just might be the annual auction, hosted each year with great skill by our friends at the Teddy Dorado auction house. This auction is traditionally held the Saturday evening of the festival. This year, bidders could review all the lots on offer and place pre-bids in a special room right next door to the Steiff museum; this preview is pictured here on the left. This room also housed a remarkable Steiff moving display. It was great fun to see these spectacular auction lot treasures in person. Did you know that only about 1% of all items presented to Teddy Dorado actually made it into this auction? And, based on the quality and rarity of the items, it is clear why!
The Teddy Dorado auction started at 6pm at a local community center in Giengen. The room quickly filled up with bidders from all over the world - and three television cameras to film the event end to end. Steiffgal was responsible for reading the lot descriptions to the audience in English - a responsibility she takes quite seriously! Before coming to Germany, she wrote and prepared a script for these announcements, a task that took over 5 hours to do! But it was time very well spent, as the bidding for many items, including an early and original Mickey Mouse, a pair of felt egg cosies, an uncatalogued baby penguin, and a silk plush Teddy Baby was fierce and competitive! About three hours later the auction finally came to a close - with only one lot passing! This is an amazing accomplishment, given that industry auction pass rate close to 20%, at least in America. Steiffgal bid on two lots, losing one by 50 euros and one by 300 euros. Oh well... the experience was priceless!
Right after the auction, Steiffgal met up with her friends at a local Greek restaurant in Giengen and enjoyed a post event feast of lamb chops, salad, and vegetables. And of course, a cold beer! Mercifully, the temperature had dropped to a "more moderate" 85 degrees by almost sundown. Here she is pictured to the left with her dear friend Jena Pang, who came to Giengen from London to view the auction and catch up with Teddy friends!
After refueling, Steiffgal and three other collectors decided to walk back to the Lobinger Hotel to stretch their legs and burn a few calories. The journey was about 20 minutes, all uphill, and quite refreshing. Steiff celebrates its annual Sommer event each year by presenting a grand display of fireworks. It seems the entire town - Steiff lovers and others - gather in the town square to view this marvelous late evening spectacle. Steiffgal and her exercise companions had the once in a lifetime experience of seeing this show from their walking venue. This sight and sound extravaganza was one that Steiffgal will never forget.
Steiffgal hopes this little travel diary has convinced you that Steiff's annual Sommer Festival is truly the best day of the year for collectors and enthusiasts for all things "button-in-ear."
Have a question about one of your Steiff treasures? Let's talk! Click here to learn more.
Cue the special effects... and the time travel sequence! It's time for Steiffgal and Steiffpal's excellent adventure to Giengen, Germany to the Annual Steiff Sommer Festival! Well, it's not quite as dramatic as that, but this year, Steiffgal did have quite the adventure getting to Germany to take part in the company's annual event celebrating all things "button-in-ear," which this year ran from June 27th through June 29th. But once she arrived, things were, as collector's say, "just minty!" Here's a travel diary of the highlights - and challenges - associated with this trip to the birthplace of the Teddy bear.
Wednesday, June 25th
Night: Steiffgal met Steiffpal at Logan Airport around 4:30pm for their 7:00pm flight from Boston to Stuttgart (about an hour's drive from Giengen.) Over the years, Steiffgal has traveled the world with Steiffpal for Steiff events; this was their third annual trip to Giengen together. After a yummy early dinner at Durgin Park restaurant in Terminal E, they headed to the gate, and awaited their flight.
The flight boarded late, because of some temperature control issues. Eventually the duo got on board and found their seats, located in the very rear of the plane. The cabin was about 90 degrees inside. After a few minutes the captain came on the public address system. It was impossible to make out his words; he sounded like the teacher from the Charlie Brown cartoons - wah wha wha wha; wha, wha wha wha. What he was saying was that the plane has been hit by a cart and was damaged; the flight was cancelled and all passengers had to evacuate the plane immediately. Once back in the terminal, the airlines announced that the next available flight to Germany was in 3 days and that all passengers were to pick up their luggage at carousel 4 and make alternative travel plans. Oye veh!
Thursday, June 26th
Morning: After about 100 texts and phone calls back and forth between Steiffgal, Steiffgal, and the travel agent, the duo were rebooked to Germany, albeit in a somewhat less efficient manner. They again met at Logan airport, and took a plane to LaGuardia Airport in New York.
Noon and night: Steiffgal and Pal took a shuttle across town to JFK Airport, where they waited 6 hours to board a flight to Duesseldorf, Germany.
Friday, June 27th
Morning: Thankfully, the flight was relatively uneventful and the team landed in Duesseldorf at 6am German time. After passing through passport control, Steiffgal and Steiffpal ran to their connecting gate for their final leg to Stuttgart. Once at the gate, the attendant "helpfully" told them that their flight was cancelled, and the next flight would be at 4pm, if space were available. Oye veh - again!
Noon: Steiffgal and Pal headed to the traveler's help desk, to see what the options were. Already, they had lost a day at festival... not good! They decided to take the train from Duesseldorf to Giengen - about a 5 hour ride. After collecting their baggage and finding the station, they boarded a train for a one stop transfer to a connecting line. Once at the station, they discovered their connecting train has been cancelled! Oye veh - yet another crazy curve ball in what should have been a straightforward 8 hour trip!
Night: Finally, four trains later and after much standing in line, waiting on platforms, and wondering if they were traveling on the right trains and in the right direction... Steiffgal and Steiffpal arrived in Giengen around 4:30 in the afternoon! Hallelujah! The team made the quick walk from the Giengen train station to the company's campus. And what a homecoming that felt like - after Wednesday, Thursday, and most of Friday in transit! After a few quick hellos, a kind friend took them to the Lobinger Hotel - a five minute drive from downtown Giengen - where they could finally put away their baggage, freshen up, and start enjoying their time away! The Lobinger Hotel is pictured above on the left. After a few beers, dinner with friends, and a quick walk to the convenience store across the street from the hotel, Steiffgal and Steiffpal hit the hay in anticipation of a fabulous weekend at Festival.
Saturday, June 28th
Morning: The day started with a great German breakfast including lox, muslix, and of course, hearty bread chock-full of seeds and nuts! Steiffgal and Steiffpal squirreled away two giant pretzels from the buffet for a later-in-the-day treat. Then they took the shuttle from the hotel to the Steiff campus.
Immediately upon arriving at Festival, Steiffgal and Pal headed off to the vintage dealer area, where they met with longtime friends and sellers - and "circulated the economy" in a pretty enthusiastic way. Steiffgal purchased a number of unique items from several dealers in this area for friends, colleagues, and her store. She felt like Santa Claus with her long "Steiff wish list" from friends in hand; however, she was only moderately successful in fulfilling these purchase requests. This was probably because she arrived a day after opening day and many of these highly sought after items had already been sold. She bought a 35 cm sitting German Pincher from the 1920's for her own collection; this beauty is pictured here to the left. He is sitting, head jointed, and made from brown tipped mohair. He was produced in 17, 22, 28, 35, 43, and 50 cm overall from 1914 through 1931.
After a few hours, Steiffgal and Pal found themselves in the Steiff sales area, which was a large tented space filled to the brim with new Steiff items from the Steiff warehouses and overproduction areas. This sales area is traditional to the Festival and there are always great treasures to be found - including some one of a kinds and hand samples! The company constantly refreshed the displays throughout the event, so it was important to keep checking back. Here, Steiffgal purchased a number of gifts for friends, as well as a few unusual items for the store. For herself, she found a somewhat unusual five ways jointed golden Winnie the Pooh, which she thinks was made as an exclusive for Japan a few years back. Pooh, who is five ways jointed and is 24 cm standing, is pictured here on the left.
Noon: After a quick lunch of a giant pretzel and a cold beer, Steiffgal and Steiffpal toured the wonderful Steiff Museum, which features exhibits for kids, families, and vintage collectors as well. As part of the weekend celebration, the lobby of the museum had a handsome display of two important Steiff Japan projects: a collaboration with BMW, and a youth soccer (or football if you are not from the USA!) program for children impacted by the severe earthquake of 2011. The museum has many permanent, dynamic displays and vignettes, including one about Margarete starting the company which takes place in her early workshop, and another about Richard Steiff, which takes place in his creativity studio. The museum also features a huge display of studio animals, hands on kids play areas, a multi-floor slide in the shape of a snake, and of course a breathtaking display of vintage Steiff treasures from the late 1880's onward. Steiffgal's favorite museum treasure was a fully jointed felt baby doll - something she had only read about in the past - who is pictured here in the upper left. This dear dolly was produced in 28 and 35 cm in 1916 and 1917 only.
Night: For many, one of the major highlights of the Steiff celebration weekend is the annual Teddy Dorado auction, which is held the Saturday evening of the event. This year, Steiffgal read the catalog descriptions in English from the stage, while Pal wore the white gloves and presented many of the treasures to the audience. The auction featured 78 hand selected items at a spectrum of price points.
The auction was especially meaningful for Steiffgal because it was there that she got to meet a new friend from the UK in person - one she had been Skyping and emailing with for almost a year! This friend had discovered a very special item in an auction lot; this treasure turned out to be an extremely rare black Steiff bear! After much consideration, the friend decided to sell this black bear, whom she named Black Jack, at the Teddy Dorado summer auction. And what a good choice that was! He realized over 18,000 euro! He is pictured here above on the left. Other auction highlights that evening included a one of a kind mohair owl from the collection of Ava Steiff which realized over 9,500 euro; a Teddy Clown that realized almost 6,000 euro; and an unusual Teddy bear on a green mohair mat which realized over 9,500 euro (prices shown include the buyer's premium). After the auction, which lasted over 2 hours, Steiffgal, Steiffpal, Black Jack's family, and the Teddy Dorado team all enjoyed a wonderful celebratory dinner at the Sud Italia restaurant in downtown Giengen.
Sunday, June 29th
Morning: There was no rest for the weary and after a quick breakfast, Steiffgal and Pal were back on the Steiff campus. The first stop of the morning was back to the sales tent, where the team scored a few more good deals. Pal picked up a few early style bears, and Steiffgal purchased more gifts for friends as well as an unusual long blonde mohair dog that looked like a cross between a lab and a chow chow. He is pictured here above on the left. They then again walked the vintage sales area, where Pal bought a special black and white cow that she'd been after for awhile.
Noon: After a light lunch of pretzels and beer (are you starting to see a theme here?) the team decided to brave the rain and wind and take a foot tour of Giengen. The town itself is quite small, only about 17 square miles total. The downtown has a few banks, restaurants, convenience stores, and retail stores all set within turn of last century or earlier buildings with cobblestone sidewalks, fountains, and lots of flowers in window boxes. It is really quite charming! After wandering about for an hour or so, Steiffgal and Pal found themselves at the birth house of Margarete Steiff, located just a stone's throw from the factory on Lederstrasse, or Leather Street. The front of the house is pictured here above on the left. This turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip for both travelers, and you can take this tour yourself (albeit virtually!) by clicking here!
Night: With jetlag and the frenetic pace finally catching up to them, sleepy Steiffgal and Pal grab said their goodbyes to friends on the Steiff campus and took the shuttle back to the Lobinger hotel. Upon arrival, they dropped off their bags and met a group of friends from the US and UK for drinks in the hotel lobby. Over time, the group slowly migrated to the dining room, where everyone enjoyed a leisurely traditional southern German style dinner. Steiffgal had a salad and pot roast with onion gravy, while Pal had veal schnitzel with fries. Then it was back to the rooms for packing - and repacking - bags to fit within the airline's travel regulations, and a good night's sleep.
Monday, June 30th
Morning: With bags packed, Steiffgal and Pal met friends for a quick breakfast in the lobby, and then checked out of their hotel. They caught a ride with a colleague to the Stuttgart airport. Although it was pouring rain, the drive was interesting and very scenic. Once at the airport, they breezed through security and the plane - heading to London - took off and landed right on schedule.
Noon: At Heathrow, Steiffgal and Pal did a little window shopping after the elaborate security screening. A delightful surprise was seeing a Steiff bear featured in the window of Hamley's airport store! Next on the airport agenda was the team's annual "last meal before crossing the pond" at Wagamama, where Steiffgal and Pal each had a delicious lobster and seafood salad and split an order of edamame - this yummy meal is pictured above on the left. The plane did indeed board on time, and except for an hour long ground delay, took off and landed "relatively" on time and in a completely uneventful manner! Yay! Apparently the travel curse has been broken!
Night: Steiffgal and Pal say their goodbyes in Logan Airport and promise to return to Giengen together in 2015!
Steiffgal hopes this travel log has convinced you to attend Steiff Sommer 2015 - without the travel hassles, of course!
Have a question about one of your Steiff treasures? Let's talk! Click here to learn more.
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A cosy, clean, and convenient place to stay in Giengen is the Lobinger Hotel in Giengen, which is just about a 20 minute walk or a 3 minute car ride from the Steiff campus. Here is the "first thing in the morning view" from the fourth floor, where Steiffgal's room was located. This was taken out of an interesting skylight style window with a mechanical shade. Steiffgal found both a little confusing to open and close, but got the hang of it after a few minutes of trial and error.
1. Vendor pavilions which were made from white tents. These sold all sorts of locally produced foods (like honey and jams) and decorative items (like clothing, carved wood accessories, marvelously designed felt items, and jewelry.) These really added to the authenticity of the event, giving it a delightful community feeling. 
