Margarete Steiffs father, Friedrich Steiff was a master builder in Giengen and her mother Maria Margarete Steiff, ran the household and supported her husband in his his work.
Margarete Steiff contracted polio at just 18 months old, confining her to wheelchair for the rest of her life. This is and was of course a terrible tragedy for anyone to endure, especially in the 19th century. this meant that Margarete Steiff mother would have to care for her for the rest of her life. Margarete would never have been able to take on the role of housewife and mother and at this time in history, seemed to have no prospects for the future.
The apparently helpless margarete Steiff had other ideas. She had a very cheerful and positive outlook on life, this made her very popular. She always wanted to be involved with in any outdoor activities whatever the weather and was always asking friends and family to carry her outside even during winter months.
Margarete Steiffs family was very close and loving, she was able to stay with various family members and even neighbours throughout the year in order to give her immediate family a break from her care.
When the time came for Margarete Steiff to start school, her family became very concerned that the organisation needed at the time to send such a disabled person to school would make it impossible for Margarete to get a proper education. To their delight this turned out to be much more simple than they had feared due to the amazing community spirit in Giengen, a quality which Steiff members credit to this day. Margarete Steiff was accompanied by neighbour children to school as well as her sisters. A family friend who lived near her school would carry young Margarete up the school steps.
Though her work was above average, Margarete Steiff, like most children spent her free time playing with other children wherever possible. As an extremely creative person she spent hour designing games or planning playful activities so that she could take part.
Margarete Steiff very quickly unearthed her most important natural gift as this early time in her childhood. She learned how to talk to people in a way that made them want to do what she wanted.
Margarete Steiff looked after young children while their mothers work at work in order to help re-pay all the people who had helped her throughout her life. She was hard working and unspoiled.
Margarete Steiff underwent unsuccessful surgery on her legs when she was under 10 years old. This was a traumatic experience but one that made her mature as a person. It was after her recovery that she expressed her wish to attend sewing school. Friedrich Steiff was initially against the idea, afraid that she would fail and that this would add to the disappointment of the unsuccessful operation. Despite this the youngest girl in the Steiff family asserted herself and show her parents that they had once again underestimated her ability.
Although at first it too Margarete Steiff a long time to finish her work, she also had to ask for help from the other Steiff women to complete all of it in time, she became a brilliant seamstress after a few years.
Keen to overcome her limitations and broaden her horizons Margarete Steiff also learned to play the zither, a guitar-like instrument where the strings do not extend beyond the sounding box. She became able to give lessons on the use of this instrument in later years.
At the age of 17 Margarete was forced to come to terms with the fact that her legs would never work and that she could never recover from the illness that had plagued her childhood. this focussed her on a career in sewing, one that she pursued with absolute determination. In 1874 Friedrich Steiff converted the ground floor of their house, converting the study into a dressmakers workshop.
together with her sisters Marie and Pauline Steiff, Margarete began to perform sewing work at home. the workshop became well known in Giengen and the three young Steiff ladies became the first people in the town to buy their own sewing machine.
The list of customers for Steiff dresses became longer and longer. Although Margarete made all types of dresses, she much preferred making children's clothing.
