Wilhelm Strunz

Wilhelm Strunz commenced business in 1902 in Nuremberg, one of the most famous traditional toy making regions of the country. Some of the earlier designs included felt dolls, followed by other soft toys in around 1904.

Early catalogue pictures depict bears on metal wheels, a muzzle bear with ceiling wax nose and various dressed animals. An interesting product of 1909 was a vibrant jester teddy with a mohair head and feet and a multi-coloured wool plush body. Fully jointed, this appealing joker had large shoe button eyes, ceiling wax nose and the traditional long limbs and large feet. A felt ruff with bells adorned his neck whilst pompoms were attached to his torso.

As with some Bing creations, many early Strunz articles were practically identical to the Steiff designs, especially the Rod Bear of 1904. In fact, Strunz was perhaps the worst offender for copying the rival firm, for not only was a button-in-ear trademark used, practically identical advertisements were also published! After the intervention of Steiff, the competitor finally settled on stapling a tag to the ear of each soft toy. Although Steiff took many companies to court, not every case resulted in success for the established toy makers.

Bear Facts

Until the outbreak of War in 1914, there is no doubt that Germany could proudly declare itself the toy making capital of the world, with particular regions specialising in different products. The most famous soft toy manufacturer is of course Steiff, but many other companies set up in direct competition with this well-established company. Some firms blatantly copied their designs, including Bing and Strunz, and there were several lawsuits that followed, particularly with regard to the button in ear trademark.

Wilhelm Strunz of Nuremberg was producing soft toys as early as 1904. Once again, many of the first creations were practically identical to the Steiff designs and even had a button in ear! Strunz elephants have also appeared which are extremely similar to those made by Steiff. The first teddy bears were made using the rod-jointing method that Richard Steiff had invented in the early part of the century. These bruins were produced out of the same high quality German mohair and had long tapering arms, humped backs and large feet. The ears were generally large and rounded, set wide apart on the head. Black shoe button eyes were used in the earlier creations, which were sewn into the facial seams.

A 19” tall rod-jointed Strunz bear complete with the button in ear trademark sold at Christies sale on Dec 6th 1999 for a hammer price of £1840 (including buyer’s premium).