History

Once upon a time…

there was a little girl whose father and mother were dead,
and she was so poor that she no longer had any little room to live in
or bed to sleep in and at last she had nothing else but the clothes she was wearing.


This is how the famous fairy-tale by Brothers Grimm begins in which
a little girl gives away her last little shirt out of kind-heartedness and
is richly rewarded in the endwith golden talers that fall down from heaven
directly into her lap.

A deeply moving story captured in the name and logo of our company.
For as nice as the fairy-tale by the Grimms is, are our toys and textiles that offer babies and s
mall children a lot of joy and fun, protection and warmth...and all that already since 1965. 

A historically Grown Family Business 

Because 1965 was the year when Alfons and Käte Koch founded the business in Dornburg-Dorndorf and launched the first collection of baby- booties on the market.

 
 

1966

The large department store chains Kaufhof, Karstadt, Horten and Hertie place first orders 
 

1967

The product range is extended by their first own hat collection  
 

1968

Sterntaler exhibits the collection at eight regional trade fairs in Germany and becomes established as  trade mark  
 

1969

First building phase completed – own business premises 

1970

Sterntaler’s first toy collection comes into the world 
 

1972

Sterntaler has 3 travelling salesmen who visit customers nationwide 
 

1975

Second building phase completed – Sterntaler’s premises expand 
 

1978

Due to rising demand, the product range is extended by the first own sock-collection and Sterntaler becomes a specialist for baby- and child foot-related products 
 

1980

Meanwhile the number of specialist retail shop customers in Germany reaches more than 1.000 
 

1982

Third building phase completed - Sterntaler expands throughout Europe 
 

1988

Apart from newly designed shapes and models, the topic functional wear becomes an important one; especially in the introduction of UV-protection in hats, Sterntaler holds a leading pioneer role 
 

1990

Fourth building phase completed -Sterntaler is the first manufacturer to introduce newly shaped crawling mats; animal motifs conquer the hearts of children’s rooms 
 

1992

Foundation of a production company in Asia and Czechia; the production capacity at the headquarters in Dornburg-Dorndorf is not sufficiently large anymore 
 

1994

Sterntaler launches ABS-Socks on the German market; the trademark-protected term by Sterntaler becomes synonymous for anti-slip socks  
 

1996

From musical toys to crawling mats up to sleeping bags; the idea of serial products enters Sterntaler’s toy range – single characters are offered in up to 35 different variations 
 

1998

Sterntaler is the first manufacturer who offers their customers shop systems for all product ranges 
 

2002

Sterntaler conquers the export market and is successfully positioned in more than 25 countries 
 

 

2004

Introduction of the Fliesen-Flitzer/Flying Floor Whizzers; after the ABS socks it is the second trademark-protected term by Sterntaler that becomes a household name 

2005

We are celebrating our 40th anniversary…and treat ourselves to some nice presents. Our business activities expand with a complete new building, the opening of an internet shop for the trade and the creation of Sterntaler Limited Hong Kong

2006

Germany’s TV-channel ZDF visits Sterntaler; the success story of Sterntaler’s popular hand puppets runs its course

2008

Sterntaler GmbH & Co. KG, Sterntaler Holding and Sterntaler UB GmbH merge into the new Sterntaler GmbH

2009

Sterntaler gets a new resource planning system and successfully presents the first collection of children‘s clothing 
 

2010

Opening of the new showroom; a good example for Sterntaler’s way to tackle the challenges of future needs 

The clothing collection expands with baby and child underwear 

2011

A new inventory and logistics management system is introduced and the new Sterntaler internet appearance goes online.  
 

Today

Today the family business is managed in second generation by Thomas Koch, Arend Kreitz and Christoph Lahnstein.

 As market leader in the baby and child accessory section, more than 1.000 employees work  for Sterntaler worldwide,  among them about 250  in Germany.
 

For your desktop


Do you like our pictures and products? Find Sterntaler desktop wallpapers for download here.