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All In The Family
Hermann Teddy Originals - those bears with the famous red seal - come from
a long line of family-made European Teddies °
by James van Maanen
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Bernhard
Hermann
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It all began back in 1907, in the remote village of Neufang, Germany,
where a fellow by the name of Johann Hermann persuaded his family
to join him in making Teddy Bears. Five years later Johann's
eldest son, Bernhard, married and, not surprisingly, wanted to
begin his own business. Bernhard and his wife, Ida, moved to
the much larger town of Sonneberg, which in the early part of
the twentieth century was the center of Germany's thriving toy
industry. There, Ida produced four strapping boys, while Bernhard
produced bears - his own line of bears, under the trademark name
BE-HA, using letters from his first and last name.
Highly energetic and full of faith in his new business, Bernhard
saw his plans suddenly halted by the outbreak of World War I,
and it was Ida who had both to run the business and raise the
children until he returned, alive and unharmed, in 1918. Soon,
with buyers from around the world visiting Sonneberg and seeing
Bernhard Hermann's bears, he began exporting to England, France,
Sweden, Switzerland and the United States. From the very beginning,
the firm's Teddies were high quality bears made mostly of mohair,
and having disk joints, glass eyes and filling of excelsior, wadding
or wool mixtures.
With the help of Ida, his sons and a few employees, Bernhard's
business continued to grow, experiencing the usual ups and downs,
until 1948. After World War II, with the partioning of Berlin
and the division of Germany into Eastern and Western sectors,
the city of Sonneberg found itself under Soviet rule. With the
prospect of nationalization facing his business, Bernhard relocated
to the company and his family to Hirschaid in Bavaria. Once there,
the firm changed its name from BE-HA to Teddy-Pluschspielwarenfabrik,
Gebruder Hermann KG, a German name that translates into English
as "Teddy Plush Toy Factory, Hermann Brothers"-or, as
it is known in its shortened form in Germany, Teddy-Hermann.
The company's trademark also changed at this time: printed on
a red seal affixed to each bear, it now read " HERMANN Teddy
ORIGINAL."
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Margit
Drolshagen - Hermann
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After the move to Hirschaid, Bernhard's three sons (one had died
at the age of 18) took over the management role as equal partners,
and the firm continued to flourish. The next major change occurred
in 1986, when Bernhard's granddaughters assumed responsibility
for the business. Teddy-Hermann remains a fourth generation,
family-run operation-but one managed solely by women. This would
be an unusual enough occurrence here in the United States, but
in Europe, at that time, it was practically unknown. Today, Margit Drolshagen has taken over sales and marketing, while her sister,
Traudel Mischner, has been the company's designer for many years.
Margit and Traudel are both Artur Hermann's daughters. Marion
Mehling, daughter of Werner Hermann, has taken over responsibility
for commercial organization, buying and importing, and Isabella
Reiter, daughter of Hellmut Hermann, is responsible for production
management.
Teddy-Hermann produces bears that are sought after worldwide
and that are distinguished from all other bears by the expressions
on their faces, notes Margit Drolshagen, Teddy-Hermann's joint
managing director. "This is a serious but friendly look-open
and frank-mixed with a touch of astonishment and knowledge,"
explains Drolshagen. "With its high forehead, mostly vertical
stitched nose and brown or black eyes, this characteristic face
is a mirror of all the love and joy put into each individual bear
in Hirschaid."
While longtime collectors know the Teddy-Hermann bears very well,
Drolshagen suggests that new collectors should always look for
the red seal with HERMANN Teddy ORIGINAL written in gold, which
will assure them of the real thing. Since 1994, the firm also
affixes a small version of this seal to each bear's neck.
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Marion
Mehling - Hermann
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Over the years more and more of the company's bears have become
collectors' items, especially limited editions, such as this year's
13 and 16 inch 1930 Replica Bears, each limited to an edition
of 1,000. New Teddy-Hermann Teddies include the 16 inch Fisherman,
complete with bucket, net and fishing rod, made of antique-gold
curled mohair and dressed in a knitted sweater and tweed pants.
Bluebeary, made of a bluish curled mohair and designed by Traudel
Mischner, is limited to 500 pieces, as is another new bear, the
16-inch Marionetter-Player, made of old-gold mohair and dressed
in pants, coat and cap, with his own tiny mohair marionette bear.
Teddy-Hermann also offers a new series of bears designed by English
bear artist Deborah Canham; they are Ernest, Anthony, Barnaby,
Albert, Richard and Jeremy. Limited to 2,000 of each design and
size, these are available in two color and three sizes and range
in price from $155 to $225. A "Miniature School" features
miniature pupils, as well as a miniature mohair teacher, in an
eight- by six- by five-inch wooden schoolroom setting. Limited
to 1,000 the set costs $450.
Today Teddy-Hermann employs approximately 100 people who help
manufacture a collection that includes more than 300 different
plush toys and collectibles in various shapes, colors, and styles,
with Teddy Bears, of course, as its number-one staple. The bears
are manufactured in the traditional manner: A funnel is used
for stuffing each bear by hand with excelsior; noses are hand
stitched; and only the finest mohair and other high-grade woven
materials are used. There are some 250 dealers throughout the
United States who stock Hermann Teddy Originals. We spoke with
three of these to discover what their particular collectors thought
about these famous German bears.
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Traudel
Mischner -
Hermann
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"Collectors always associate German bears with quality bears,"
says Rosealie Rock of The Bear Tree, Anaheim, California. "While
Teddy-Hermann bears are German, they are also a little bit less
expensive than other German bears, yet the quality is still very
high. The name, too, is very recognizable. The company is doing
unique things-collectors love unique things-like a jointed bear
with joints are the elbows, shoulders and knees. These are selling
very well. The firm also offers a lot of limited editions, which
have great appeal to collectors.
Across the country in Linwood, New Jersey, Beth Hallam, owner
of Bearly Available, explains that her customers like Hermann
Teddy Originals "because their bears are so different. And
it's the dressed bears that sell the best, which means that the
costuming has to be particularly good since, with most lines,
it's the undressed bears that sell the best. These bears"
she states 'have great faces and are very well made. Their quality
is really high."
Down south at the Juniper Tree in Marietta, Georgia, owner Beth
Omer says, "I've been really happy with Hermann Teddy Originals.
My collectors like them because these are traditional German
Bears, and collectors appreciate knowing that they're getting
their bear from a truly traditional, old German company. Margit
Drolshagen, you know, is a granddaughter of the company's founder,
and she came to visit our store in 1995. I was really impressed
with her, with the firm and with their way of doing business."
The impression was mutual, it seems, for Hermann Teddy Originals
is doing a special-edition bear for the Juniper Tree-which will
appear this summer, just in time for the Olympics-a 14-inch 1940s-style
Peach Bear, in a limited edition 150.
As popular as Hermann Teddy Originals are today, what is most
pleasing to Drolshagen and her staff is the fact that so many
people of all ages and from around the world continue to appreciate
these bears. "Many parents and grandparents want their offspring
to have one of our bears, too, so that these children will have
a special toy to play with-one that never grows old or ugly, but
instead becomes a fast friend. It's not surprising to hear from
many successful lawyers, teachers and other professionals about
the Hermann bear they received as a child, who was there at their
bedside after an operation in the hospital, or went with them
on holiday, and perhaps even now sit atop their desk. That,"
she concludes, "is what really counts."
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