History
It was in 1889 that two young men called Schmidt decided to jointly found a company to manufacture dolls.
Franz Schmidt & Co., as the company was called, in close collaboration with china factories in the near vicinity, succeeded in developing and selling an extensive range of ball jointed dolls with biscuit china heads. More than 100 employees manufactured dolls for export to almost all the countries of Europe and in particular overseas as well.
The development of the company Franz Schmidt & Co. progressed constantly in all the subsequent years.
In the cold winter of 1955 the main company building was almost completely destroyed by a serious fire, in which the company archives and all old doll models were lost. The damage was so extensive because the fire brigade's hoses burst due to the cold temperature; the temperature was below -20°C.
But this catastrophy was overcome. That same year the reconstruction of the building was begun, after Harald Steiner, a grandson of Franz Schmidt, had taken over control of the company.
With the restrictive politics of the GDR party and government, the livelihood of private companies still in existence was curtailed over the years. Necessary replacement and new investments were blocked more and more by the state so that it became infeasible to modernise doll production by changing from paper-maché to plastic dolls. Harald Steiner and his wife Helga sought other less capital-intensive manufacturing possibilities for toys and within the existing opportunities decided to start producing cuddly toys. With the rise in cuddly toy production, a fall in doll production was taking place.
In 1972 the company was expropriated in the context of the forced nationalisation of existing small and medium sized companies and from 23rd April 1972 it operated under the name of "VEB Plüschspielwaren Georgenthal". Due to the lack of "socialist leaders" Harald Steiner was allowed to preside over the company; however only for a short time. After a few years concentration measures began in the GDR which then ended in the formation of socialist "Kombinats" and the foundation of the "VEB 'biggi' Walterhausen" in 1980. This company, belonging to the business group for the production of toys, encompassed all toy manufacture companies and cooperative societies in North Thuringia, and thereby had over 2,000 employees.
With the collapse of the GDR in 1989 the livelihood of "people's enterprises" (VEB) dwindled away, the large "Kombinats" were dissolved and the individual companies were returned to their previous owners in a more or less desolate state.
As Helga and Harald Steiner wanted to continue the family tradition of toy manufacturing, Steiner GmbH started to manufacture and sell top quality cuddly toys on 1st October 1990. Helga Steiner took over management of the new company, the production of which had to be carried out on the old premises of the former company Franz Schmidt &Co to start with. In 1993, Harald Steiner joined the Steiner GmbH. At the same time, it was decided to construct a new building for the company, as manufacture in the old building was no longer up to the standards at that time.
Industrial selling was additionally integrated into this new building in which the company's extensive range is on direct sale and which attracts keen interest.
Lots of coaches stop here to give tourist parties an insight into typical German production, as of course visitors to the outlet store also have the chance to see the production itself.
Lack of space, especially insufficient storage capacity forced Mr and Mrs Steiner to buy back the Franz Schmidt company buildings from the trust. The old buildings, already partly reconstructed by Steiner GmbH, are now used for base production and storage.
At the beginning of 2001 Susanne Bier, the daughter of Helga and Harald Steiner, joined the company and has been managing it since 2004 in the 4th generation.
The main field of activity is still the production of cuddly toys; however the target group has clearly changed. While decades ago it was primarily children's eyes that lit up at the sight of a giraffe, today cuddly toys are also produced for publicity and the decoration field.
Hare, hedgehog, mouse and cat along with many 1000 other animals provide a view and clarification of the quality standard on offer.
The comprehensive production line up includes
- Cuddly toys
- Every kind of custom made toy
- Collector items
- Animal rockers and hanging animals
- Lying down cuddly toys
- Walking acts/ costumes
- Big cuddly toys
- Electrically driven cuddly toys
