Margarete Steiff

Margarete Steiff

Margarete Steiff (July 24, 1847 - May 9, 1909), was a seamstress who in 1880 founded Margarete Steiff GmbH, making toy stuffed animals.

Born in Giengen, Germany she used a wheelchair, due to polio she contracted as a baby. She started making stuffed animals as a hobby.

These toys began as elephants, which were originally a design Steiff found in a magazine and originally sold as pincushions to her friends. However, children began playing with them, and in the years following she went on to design many other successful animal-themed toys for children, such as dogs, cats and pigs. She designed and made most of the prototypes herself.

She died of pneumonia in Giengen.

External links

• BBC News: "Teddy bear celebrates 100th birthday"
• Margarete Steiff at the Internet Movie Database

Persondata
Name	Steiff, Margarete
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	July 24, 1847
Place of birth
Date of death	May 9, 1909
Place of death