Teile diese Seite
  • Share this page

Excerpt from the teddy bear collection

Bear with ball, ca. 1912, 22 cm

Mechanical bear, Bing, Germany

1920s, 65 cm

Bing, Germany

ca. 1920, 45 cm

Hecla, USA

1930s, 38 cm

EDUCA (Eduard Crämer), Germany

1930s, 60 cm

Musical bear, Jopi (Josef Pitrmann), Germany

1920s, 40 cm

Musical bear, Jopi (Josef Pitrmann), Germany

1920s, 34 cm

Yes-No mechanism, sample number

Schuco, Germany

"Fahrradlampe" 1930s, 12 cm (teddy)

Schuco, Germany

See collection

The history of the teddy bear

With more than 2,500 venerable teddy bears, our collection is the most extensive in the world. In addition, nowhere else can you see as many old bears from Margarete Steiff’s workshop as you can here. A significant part of the collection is devoted to the arguably most famous teddy bear manufacturer in the world and her bears with the legendary button in ear.

Read story

Anecdote

According to an anecdote the name teddy bear came up in 1902 and refers to the president of the United States of America, Theodore Roosevelt. The tale has it that a guide of the president had tracked down a young bear after an unsuccessful hunting tour and tied the bear to a tree to make him an easy target. Roosevelt, however, found this unsportsmanlike and spared the animal. Hence Teddy’s bear – as the newspaper called this anecdote – became teddy bear.

A new sensation

The PGB 35, 1904 vintage
Teddy bear, light brown, 35 cm tall (measured in the sitting position), embroidered nose and 5 claws.

A rarity with a fascinating design and construction, which also represents an important milestone in the history of the teddy bear.
The PGB 35 (P stands for plush, G for Gestänge (metal skeleton) and B for beweglich (moveable)) is a 50 cm tall bear that will probably rewrite the history books. This bear is particularly important on account of the fact that it may well represent the previously unknown missing link between teddy bears made with a metal skeleton and those with moveable disc joints.

Learn more

Margarete Steiff

A strong-willed woman. 

Her journey from the little elephant to a worldwide group of companies. 

Margarete Steiff (1847–1909), who contracted polio as a small child and suffered severe life-long disablement, overcame many obstacles to find her place in life. When she offered the first home-made stuffed toy animals such as the Elefäntle (little elephant) in her felt-clothing business in 1880, she also laid the foundation stone for a global group of companies which has remained successful to the present day.

Learn more

The latest

from the Museum

The culinary world

Ristorante La Sosta

The culinary world

Ristorante La Sosta

For appetites both great and small. Open daily, with hot dishes available throughout opening hours.

To Ristorante La Sosta

Including the current special exhibition

Public tours

Including the current special exhibition

Public tours

Tours are given on the 1st Saturday of each month at 2 p.m. Duration: About 1 hour.

To the tours

Our

Opening hours

Our

Opening hours

Opening hours, including holidays, for the museum, boutique, and Ristorante La Sosta.

To the opening hours

More about

our collection

Miniatures 1:12

Perfection in miniature

The miniatures tell real or fictitious stories of various kinds with impressive attention to detail and are constructed in a 1:12 scale. It is with this contemporary spin on the art of the dollhouse that the Spielzeug Welten Museum Basel fosters the art of modern dollhouse construction.

Carrousels

The world goes round and round

The various carousels and carnival rides in the collection of the Spielzeug Welten Museum Basel constitute another special attraction. Some emulate the originals right down to the last detail, and all of them can be set in motion at the touch of a button.

Old doll’s houses

At home in the dollhouse world

The precious rarities from two centuries are records of a bygone era. They impressively convey the domestic culture, home environment, and self-image of earlier generations. Imagination and attention to detail make them real show-stoppers.

Ihr Browser wird nicht unterstützt.

Damit die Seite korrekt angezeigt wird, sollten Sie eine aktuelle Version Ihres Browsers einsetzen.