As German Chancellor Angela Merkel is about to step down following the upcoming parliamentary election in the country, a series of “personality” teddy bears commemorating her time in the office has been produced at an enterprise in Coburg, Bavaria, Die Welt reports.
The 40-centimetre tall toy bears a certain resemblance to Merkel, sporting a hairstyle similar to hers; the bear’s paws can also be arranged to make Merkel’s famous hand gesture known as the “Merkel rhombus” (Merkel-Raute).
"We try to express moments of contemporary history in teddy bears as an art form," said Martin Hermann, the business’ managing director.
As the newspaper points out, the 101-year old family business that produced the bear in question has a history of making such toys that resemble famous people, including such “teddy bear replicas” of former US President Barack Obama, ex-Chancellor of Germany Helmut Schmidt and Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II.
“Everything that has a name and status in the world is presented in our showroom”, Hermann remarked.
He also pointed out that the teddy bears are not toys but rather are “collector’s items”.
A total of 500 “Merkel teddy bears” reportedly will be produced, priced 189 euros each. One of them, number 16 – a reference to the number of years Merkel spent in the office – is going to be presented to the Chancellor herself.