Mittelstand icons: Thermomix, Playmobil, HARIBO and Steiff, and what keeps them German
Four beloved consumer brands, four family-shaped histories. Their products are global, and some are now largely made abroad. So what is German about them? Ownership, headquarters and a habit of patience.
Germany's Mittelstand is usually associated with machine tools and industrial components. But some of its best-known names make things for kitchens and nurseries. Thermomix, Playmobil, HARIBO and Steiff are recognised far beyond Germany, and each is still run from a German headquarters. Their stories also show that "German" no longer means that every unit is made in Germany.
Thermomix: a kitchen machine and a sales model
The Thermomix is made by Vorwerk, a family-owned group based in Wuppertal. It developed from a Vorwerk mixer series launched in 1961; the first heated model, the VM 2000, arrived in 1971 and was sold first in France. Successive generations added scales, guided cooking and connectivity, with the TM7 launched in 2025.
Two features make it distinctive. The first is the direct sales model: consultants demonstrate the machine in people's homes, which builds loyalty and lets Vorwerk control its pricing. The second is its manufacturing footprint, which is split between Vorwerk's plant in Wuppertal and a larger factory in Cloyes-sur-le-Loir in France. The brand, engineering and ownership are German; the production is Franco-German.
Playmobil: an oil-crisis invention
Playmobil figures were designed by Hans Beck, a trained cabinetmaker, for the toy maker Geobra Brandstätter, headquartered in Zirndorf near Nuremberg. They debuted at the Nuremberg International Toy Fair in 1974 with knights, Native Americans and construction workers. The 1973 oil crisis had made plastic expensive, which favoured small figures over larger toys. The 7.5-centimetre figure became a design classic, sold as Playmobil figures around the world.
The brand has faced harder times recently. The Horst Brandstätter Group announced in early 2026 that it would end production at its only German plant, in Dietenhofen in Franconia, by the end of June 2026, affecting around 350 employees. The company said figures would continue to be made at its existing sites in Malta and the Czech Republic. Playmobil thus remains a German-owned and German-designed brand, but no longer a German-manufactured one.
HARIBO: Bonn's gummy bear
HARIBO was founded by Hans Riegel on 13 December 1920, starting in a small kitchen. The name combines the first two letters of HAns, RIegel and BOnn. In 1922 Riegel created a fruit gum bear, the "dancing bear", ancestor of the Goldbears, which launched in 1960 and were registered as a trademark in 1967. His sons Hans and Paul took over in 1946 and built the company into a global confectionery brand. In 2018 HARIBO moved its headquarters from Bonn to a new site in Grafschaft, in neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate. The company remains family-owned.
Steiff: the button in the ear
Steiff was founded in 1880 by Margarete Steiff, a seamstress who used a wheelchair after contracting polio as a child, and is based in Giengen an der Brenz in Württemberg. Her early success was a felt elephant. Her nephew Richard Steiff designed the jointed bear known as 55 PB in 1902; after a slow start it found an American market amid the craze for "teddy" bears named after President Theodore Roosevelt. The Steiff teddy bear became a collector's item. In 1904 the company introduced its "button in ear" trademark, a metal button fixed in each animal's ear to protect against copies. It is an early example of brand protection through product design.
Brands built on objects, not adverts
What these companies share is a product that is instantly recognisable on its own. A Goldbear, a Playmobil figure or a Steiff bear needs no logo to be identified, and the Thermomix's shape is familiar in kitchens across Europe. That kind of design identity takes decades to build and is hard for competitors to copy. It also allows these firms to extend into licensing, collectors' editions, theme parks and digital content without losing the core of the brand.
So what keeps them German?
Ownership and control
Each brand has owners with a long-term attachment to it. That shapes strategy more than any production location.
Headquarters and design
Product development, branding and decision-making remain in Wuppertal, Zirndorf, Grafschaft and Giengen.
Patience
All four have evolved their core product for decades rather than abandoning it. The Goldbear, the Playmobil figure and the Steiff bear are recognisably the same products their founders created.
None of these firms is immune to pressure from cheaper competitors or changing consumer habits, but their staying power rests on long-term owners willing to reinvest in a single, carefully protected idea.
The broader point
- "German" increasingly describes ownership, design and standards rather than the location of every factory.
- Cost pressure can move production abroad even for iconic brands, as Playmobil's 2026 decision shows.
- Strong trademarks, from "button in ear" to "Goldbears", have been central to protecting value over a century.