The Rebirth
German businessman Eric Kluge has been at the helm of the Bing revival. He was brought up from the very beginning in the toy business. Bamberger Puppenwerkstätte, his parents shop, had to be operated solely by his mother during World War II. His father was drafted into the German Army, leaving his mom as the shopkeeper.
The core of the business during the war was the doll clinic. There were no toys available from 1939 until well after the war. Only ten years old when his dad was drafted, Eric helped his mother repair dolls that came to the shop. The time just before Christmas would bring the most work. The most common repair was restringing, with elastic or rubber bands. Supplies were very limited.
Eric and his wife Margot took over the doll business in 1958. This clinic provided a great resource for both antique dolls and teddy bears. This experience is what led Eric and Margot to ultimately get involved with the Bing Revival.
Another lady would play a prominent role in the revival of Bing. Mrs. Herman Weidlich, (wife of a BING bear designer) came to Eric and Margot Kluge's doll shop, the Bamberger Puppenklinik. She commissioned them to sell some of her antique dolls, which actually belonged to her daughter, Hilde. When these dolls were brought to them, Eric was completely unaware of the background of the Weidlichs. It was years later, when Eric met the descendants of the Weidlich family in the United States, that the truth dawned. "As we talked, I started to remember an encounter with an elderly Bamberg customer who's [sic] last name was also Weidlich. She had brought an old doll to be sold," explained Eric. Upon his return to Germany, he learned the lady had died. He located her daughter, Hilde Weidlich- Dittkowski.
Hilde supported the Bing Company, and shared paintings, drawings and countless stories about her father, Herman Weidlich, and her grandfather, Kunz Weidlich. She consented to allow the use of these resources as the Bing company saw fit.
Borrowing from some of the past, the myriad of offerings which have been produced by the new “Bing" show the company's genuine effort to revive quality, not quantity! Enjoy the products and experience some of the newly created Bings.
-- Excerpted from BING Bears and Toys by Ken Yenke.
Contact BING
For more information, please contact us at the address below:
Für weitere Informationen, wenden Sie sich bitte an folgende Adresse:
Gebr. BING
Zwerggasse 1-3
96047 Bamberg
Germany
Info@GebrBING.com
In Deutschland
Telefon: (0951)2 29 78
Fax: (0951)2 19 41
Outside Germany
Phone: 49-951-22978
Fax: 49-951-21941
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