Sterntaler

PHILOSOPHY AND HISTORY:

"We at Sterntaler see, hear and feel like children. Because we want to understand what touches children, because they touch us. For generations and from the bottom of our hearts." - says the company on its own website.

The philosophy of Sterntaler was inspired by the fairy tale of the same name by the Brothers Grimm, in which a warm-hearted girl even gives away her very last shirt. The girl, whose father and mother had died, was rewarded with plenty of golden talers in gratitude for her good nature. The golden talers fall like shooting stars from the sky into the girl's lap. And it is precisely this image that can be seen in the manufacturer's logo. But what does the company's philosophy actually have in common with the fairy tale? Comparable to the warm-heartedness of the little girl, the products of Sterntaler babies and toddlers should also provide a great deal of warmth and protection. And the brand has been sticking to this since 1965, when Alfons and Käte Koch founded the company. Because the two founders believe that people experience everything much more intensively in childhood. The first product manufactured at their headquarters in Dornburg-Dorndorf was a collection of baby shoes.

Already in 1966, one year after its foundation, the company received its first orders from Kaufhof, Karstadt, Horten and Hertie. 1967 brought Sterntaler a further product line onto the market: headwear. In the meantime, the brand has become one of the most popular for summer hats and caps thanks to its great price-performance ratio.
To expand its reach, the company went to regional fairs where it presented its collections. In 1968 alone, it was represented at eight fairs in Germany. Very soon it established itself Sterntaler as a well-known specialist trade brand. In the 1970s, the product range was expanded to include a toy collection and a hosiery collection. By the beginning of the 1980s, the brand was already sold in over 1000 specialist shops. In the course of this decade, the manufacturer produced the first headwear with UV protection and even expanded throughout Europe. The 1990s was the decade of Sterntaler crawling blankets, sleeping bags, music boxes and ABS socks. And did you know that the term "ABS" is a term protected by Sterntaler protected term for non-slip socks?
The production facility in Dornburg-Dorndorf could no longer cope with the high demand, so in 1992 the company founded additional production facilities in Asia and the Czech Republic. In the meantime, the brand is represented in more than 25 countries. In 2005, the first internet shop of Sterntaler went online. The online shop, where all current collections are available, finally got a fresh look in 2014. The company's success stories also include a visit from the television station ZDF in 2006. For its 50th birthday, the company invited people to a showroom in Dorndorf in 2015. This was also the first in-house exhibition, with which a new season was launched. Today, the company employs about 250 people in Germany and as many as 1000 worldwide.

DESIGN AND QUALITY IN HARMONY

Sterntaler products are known for their incredibly cute motifs, the animals even have names: there is Erik the donkey, who is immediately associated with the brand, Stanley the little sheep, Ella the polar bear and many more. All these motifs can be seen on products such as bath towels, sleeping bags or rompers. The cute animals are even available as music boxes. The makers of Sterntaler always put themselves in the child's perspective when developing their products in order to understand their world. Because children simply see and hear much more than we adults do. And they understand the world very differently than we do. At Sterntaler is all about stimulating the senses of our offspring with appealing details.
Of course, the secret of the company's success over many years is not only the successful designs, but also the high demands on quality and workmanship. That is why only high-quality and pollutant-free materials are used for the baby and toddler products of Sterntaler only use high-quality materials that are free of harmful substances.