Bears (Ursidae in Latin) are the heavyweights of the land predators. Ungainly and of stocky build, they appear deliberate and unhurried. And yet, when it matters, they can easily and playfully outpace a running human. Bears are generally shy, hating noise and avoiding encounters with people.
However, in emergencies, for instance if a mother bear wants to defend her young, the bear can become a terrible, frenzied combatant. This is why humans have always respected him. Bears have been hunted, but at the same time admired. Signs of this admiration can be seen to this day: Berne, Berlin, Bärenbach and Mainbernheim are all towns which have made the bear’s name their own.

		The ancient Germans were one people for whom it was taboo to call the bear by name. They didn‘t want to summon a dangerous animal by saying its name. The Teutons simply called Bruin “the brown one”.

Their similarity to humans, their shrewd skilfulness and their frequently awkward manner have endeared bears to people. Their upright gait and their facial expressions give bears humanlike characteristics. This makes it easy to explain why people have been fond of bears since early times.

		In the Middle Ages and even into last century, dancing bears were a regular part of the entertainment for the public at large at many fairs, church carnivals and other festivities. Travelling people presented trained bears, who were kept in chains, for people’s amusement; people enjoyed the tricks and the apparently awkward and ungainly dances that the bears performed.
These bears did not have good lives; the methods used to train them were nasty. Muzzles, spiked collars and chains made the poor beasts obedient.

		Bears were made especially fashionable by former American President Theodore Roosevelt, who was a great hunter and especially liked bears. As a result, he was always given gifts of cloth bears on official occasions, and these soon came to be known simply as Teddy bears, from the short form of his first name.Over the decades, the teddy bear became plumper and its big wide eyes became larger and more innocent. And thus it won children’s hearts. The teddy bear is more than a toy.
Generations of children have grown up with a teddy bear and even later in life retain affectionate memories of the cuddly toy from their early childhood.