Ostheimer

For a healthy childhood

For more than 70 years Ostheimer have been carefully manufacturing wooden figures by hand. It is their desire to provide children with a beautiful and pleasant image of our world with all its human beings and animals.
With their roots firmly in the philiosophy of Rudolf Steiner, they believe children need such pictures to grow up healthy in our world.

As manufacturer of high quality toys Ostheimer’s work is always focused on the children who play with their products. “Children who engage in free imaginative playing they are able to take important steps in their development, they experience the beauty of childhood and gain talents that will strengthen them and help them to meet life with all its challenging aspects. That is what our toys are intended for.”

For a Healthy Social Life

Ostheimer Toys has always been a family company dedicated to high ideals.  Founded in 1939 by husband and wife, Walter and Adeline Ostheimer, they were later joined by their daughter Margarete in 1959, and following that in 1998 her nephew Stephan Zech who is now chief designer at Ostheimer, and his sister Sibylle Engstrom, current CEO.

There are currently 35 people working at Ostheimer, 5 of them with disabilities employed in meaningful work they love.

The Ostheimer Foundation

In 2001, Margarete Ostheimer converted the company from private ownership into a foundation, it was her desire to support forward-looking initiatives and projects. It has always been her conviction, not to accumulate profits, but to return them back into community. This is still a notably important part of the Ostheimer’s corporate philosophy. The same is true for Ostheimer’s belief that through our toys children are granted that which is essential for their healthy development.

For a Healthy World

At Ostheimer, they appreciate wood and this is expressed in the way they treat this “living” material throughout production stage. Starting with the conscious purchase of wood from sustainable forestry, continuing with efficient utilization and ending with the use of residual wood for the heating their buildings. Each step is dedicated to the protection of our environment.

Every piece of wood tells its own story. You can experience these stories through Ostheimer toys. The surfaces are not sealed by paints or varnishes. The careful treatment with paints and organic oils gives children the possibility to experience the vitality of the wood with all their senses.