In the lead-up to Christmas, full of company parties and gift shopping and Christmas Markets, we had a new German word to look-up: Schrottwichteln. It had my German-fluent husband stumped with Schrott roughly translating to “garbage” and Wichteln to “gnomes.” Garbage gnomes?

Presented proudly on the KiTa board as something they were doing that week, we had to ask the Erzieherin. A long detailed explanation had us furrowing our brows until it finally connected. “Ohhhh! Like white elephant?” That term also meant nothing to them, but we had figured it out. Now what to get….

We sent our daughter to KiTa with some figures from Toy Story 4 (very American) and were curious what she would return with. And it was a very curious thing indeed. A monchhichi. (You are welcome to ask, “What?!”)

Before I came to Germany I had never even seen these little guys, but they are kinda everywhere. There are lots of toys like that here. Omnipresent German classic toys (or adopted German) that never made it to my childhood. Here I will cover 6 classic German toys you may have never heard of.

Monchhichi

New Favorite Toy of Monchhichi PHOTO: Erin Porter

Let’s start with my child’s new best friend, the Monchhichi. If it doesn’t sound German, that is because it is not. A line of Japanese stuffed monkeys have become a classic German toy.

First successfully released in Japan in the mid-70s, they eventually had worldwide distribution. Called “Chicaboo” in the United Kingdom, “Mon Cicci” in Italy, “Kiki” in France, “Bølle” in Denmark, and “Moncsicsi” in Hungary, the dolls reached peak popularity in Germany during the 1980s. They were more popular here than in Japan.

And despite my ignorance of the toy, Monchhichi did make it to North America in 1980. But it just never reached the fervor German kids had for the toy. Monchchichi can still be found in toy stores across Germany, and I even saw them all over the Netherlands on a recent trip.

Steiff Teddy Bear
The Steiff teddy bear is perhaps the most well-known on this list. They are internationally recognized for their quality, with the authentic Steiff trademark of a button in the ear.

Known best for their teddy bears, the figures today are only limited by the designers’ imagination. To craft these fine Kuscheltier (stuffed animals), the finest materials from cashmere to alpaca to velvet are used. These are toys that last with decades-old bears sometimes selling for thousands of dollars.

Steiff super fans also come in the adult variety and thousands of visitors make their way to the factory in Giengen (about 90 miles west of Munich) each year. Here visitors find an interactive toy museum complete with workshop and the largest Steiff shop in the world.

Der kleine Maulwurf

Der kleine Maulwurf by Frank Vincentz

This funny Czech mole spawns from a popular 1950s cartoon series. It was first broadcast in Germany in January 1968 and was quite popular in the DDR. The mole never speaks so his adventures with rabbit, hedgehog and mouse cross language barriers.

This cheery little character adorns everything from fridge magnets to chocolate bars. Little stuffed figures come in all sizes and nostalgia is strong as they can be surprisingly expensive.

Sandmännchen
Another DDR favorite continues to reign over his West German counterpart. Inspired by Hans Christian Anderson’s story “Ole Lukøje”, the West first put out Das Sandmännchen on December 1st, 1959 with the East Germany version, Unser Sandmännchen, arriving soon after.

Produced by East German Deutscher Fernsehfunk (DFF), stop-action Unser Sandmännchen explored far off places and went on unfathomable adventures for citizens of the DDR. Sandman spent equal amounts of time promoting socialist activities and going on truly bonkers trips like visiting Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in 1979. From the pyramids to Lapland, Sandmännchen carried good childrens’ imaginations off to dreamland from 6:50 to 7pm every night.

The East German version reigned supreme and is still broadcast today with a full length film, Das Sandmännchen – Abenteuer im Traumland (The Sandman and the Lost Sand of Dreams), released in 2010. He was even a popular East German export airing in places like Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Norway.

Schleich
This brand of figurines reminds me of a popular toy I knew as a kid in the USA, Breyer horses. Those were also ultra-realistic and could be quite expensive, with Schleich appearing of even higher quality.

The German toy manufacturer prides itself on the authentic looks of their hand-painted toys. While they sell their figures in over 60 countries, they are most popular in their home of Germany with 30,000,000 figures sold each year. However, this may change as the company is actively expanding into the North American market with Schleich Flagship Stores which feature 15-foot T-Rex and life-sized Schleich lion along with their usual lines of toys.

Puffbohne

Erfurt Puffbohne PHOTO: Erin Porter

Also known as the broad or fava bean, or Ackerbohne in German, this nutritious food source flourishes in the Erfurt Basin. The Erfurter apparently have such a reverence for this bean  they once saluted every bean field they saw and keep a few beans in their pocket for a snack…

…at least according to the legend attached to a toy bean my daughter was just given by our elderly German neighbor. This is the latest unusual toy I have found among the Germans. I was skeptical about this one but there is a whole section of the Erfurt tourism site dedicated to their favorite bean.

The Meaning of  Toys
Learning about these toys and their sometimes fantastic back stories really tells you a lot about a  people. Because toys have a hold of us, even decades later. They say something about a society and what it finds whimsical.

I have been watching the Netflix show “The Toys That Made Us” and marvel at how much I remember of my favorite toys. Maybe there will be a German version of the show some day (hey – it is working for “Nailed It” or Wer kann, der kann!).

I would watch it.