"Michael Jackson also ordered our teddy bear," said a friendly young lady and placed a large stuffed toy on a chair with a long wooden table. "All are made by hand, some to order, and all with a lot of love."
We spent the day in the town of Sonneberg, once the toy capital of the world. If we didn't all say this to us in one voice, I wouldn't have believed that a few decades ago this small town produced as many as 20 % of all the toys on our planet. To this day, there is a university for toy makers in the town, and even today, every resident is at least somehow connected to that first teddy bear, porcelain dolls or wooden horses. And it would be a sin to leave the city without visiting one of the most important toy museums. Meh, the museum. This is what we usually say to ourselves when we step in front of large, damp and dust-smelling houses. But this time we again allowed ourselves to watch with children's eyes and immerse ourselves in the game of those who, instead of playing with an iPad, could enjoy playing with wooden, difficult-to-move dolls and wobbly tricycles. Fortunately, the sun accompanies us for the third day, and on the idyllic roads of the Thüringen forest, the long afternoon shadows of the tall spruces flicker across the roof of our car.
We explore Germany and we give it a chance to show itself in its best, most hospitable light.
Read the other parts of the travelogue:
#1 Toy road / #2 Toy road / #3 Toy road / #4 Toy road