According to the website of the Washington Post on September 24, in her 16 years as German chancellor, Angela Merkel has been called a variety of adjectives. Soft and sweet are seldom used in combinations to describe her. But now, as the chancellor prepares to leave office, a German toy company has come up with a commemorative "Merkel teddy bear" that is extremely soft and sweet. Here are Teddy Bear Plush Toy.
Hermann Toys, a 100-year-old family maker based in Coburg, Germany, began selling a limited edition of 500 teddy bears in August, the report said. This week, only days before Germans head to the polls on Sunday to elect a new leader, they sold out of the teddy bear.
The 15-inch teddy bear, sporting a blond wig, Merkel's usual collarless red coat and a necklace of beads in the colors of the German flag, smiled slightly, the newspaper said. It is made of traditional style materials such as mohair, claimed company owner Martin Herman. The teddy bear gesture is also a classic Merkel gesture, a "Merkel diamond" symbolizing power.
"She is very famous in Germany for this particular form of gesture and we thought the teddy bear had to have this style of gesture," Herrmann mentioned.
The latest limited edition teddy is not the first "Merkel teddy bear" produced by Hermann, according to the report. When she became Germany's first female chancellor in 2005, the company released a fluffy "Merkel teddy bear" in her honor.
Herrmann claimed the commemorative teddy bear generated a "huge, huge amount of attention" in Germany, where people and others around the world quickly snapped it up. Thirteen "Merkel teddy bears" were sold to two locations in the United States: a toy store in Cleveland and another toy store in Richmond.
Herrmann is a fan of Merkel. He believes the rush to buy the teddy bear, priced at about $221, reflects Ms Merkel's popularity and the desire of numerous Germans that she should decide to run again rather than retire.