The Idea
I've been collecting teddy bears since 1997, but the idea for the exhibition came by chance: in 2002 my little godnephew wanted to visit me and I built a play object for it: a large ship. It seemed too big for me and I was a bit perplexed at first. But then I visited a teddy exhibition in Dresden and found teddy bears presented in many funny and interesting scenes - although there was no sea scene with a ship. So I came to an agreement with the exhibitor to accompany his exhibition in the future with my ship and a newly “hired” crew. A second scene soon followed with a 4.30 m long zeppelin called “Nordbär”.
There was great interest in the exhibition and people often asked whether we could also show the history of the teddy bear and its development up to the present day. So I collected teddy bears from all decades of their development and brought them into the exhibition. This traveling exhibition came to an end in 2005 and everyone involved received their objects back. I initially had to rent two garages to accommodate my portion. That was the moment of decision: continue yourself or quit. I decided to continue and put together the first exhibition together with the cultural office in Radebeul near Dresden at Christmas time 2005. The presentation was a great success, which continued in subsequent exhibitions. This is how my teddy traveling exhibition has grown into what is now the largest mobile teddy exhibition in Germany; with an inventory of around 1,000 historical teddy bears and countless more recent ones.
Since 2022, it has also become possible to show two exhibitions with different thematic focuses at different locations at the same time: The newly added variant essentially presents the historical development of the teddy bear in glazed and illuminated historical overseas trunks. Models of ships that once provided a connection between Europe and America are also shown, as well as teddy bears in appropriate sailor and passenger clothing.
Large-format photos with suitable motifs are also available for wall design. This second variant is the result of a design idea that I developed in 2016 to bring the exhibition to the USA. The teddy bear was invented here and in Germany at the same time in 1902! However, the modern overseas suitcases that were created in 2016 and 2020 turned out to be very decorative, but unwieldy to transport.
So I decided instead to purchase real historical overseas trunks for the presentation in 2022, which, with the design described, were successfully shown at a first exhibition in the Freital Municipal Collections at Burgk Castle at the end of 2022. But I'm still pursuing my dream of traveling to America with the exhibition!