Please meet Hendrik, a Steiff Masked Teddy Bear

Please meet Hendrik, a Steiff masked teddy bear.   Hendrik doesn't like that word, "masked."   He thinks it makes him sound like a bank robber.   His EAN number is 0202/36, which means he's 36 centimeters high.   He doesn't like EAN numbers either.  He thinks it makes him sound like something that you might order out of a catalogue.  He's a little hefty, too, weighing in at one pound, five ounces.  He says he doesn't like the term "weighing in," as it makes him sound like a prizefighter, and he's nothing of the sort.

Truth be told, I purchased him in 2012 at an auction as part of a lot of so-called "regular bears," and he really stuck out as he is a Steiff.   He has no I.D., but there's no doubt as to what his pedigree is.   He's no ordinary bear, if there is such a thing.  

Hendrik grew up in West Germany in the 1980's, where he lived in a small village outside of Dortmund.  One of the most pivotal moments in his life was going to Berlin in November of 1989 when the Berlin Wall opened up between West Germany and East Germany.   He says he was one of the first teddy bears to cross that open border, hitching a ride in a backpack.    His heart was so overjoyed that day, that he started composing little ditties to sing to whoever would listen, eventually moving on to more serious music writing.  For quite a few years he worked at the library at the Berlin University of the Arts, where he could hear the classics played during the day,  and then he'd sample some dance music at night at the Berlin nightclubs.

So you see, Hendrik is certainly no bank robber, nor a catalogue item, nor a prizefighter, just a lovely Steiff masked bear with a song in his heart.