The velvety fur for the animals is hand-woven from pure organic cotton. "It was difficult to find the company," recalls Volker Senger, "there are practically no more hand weaving mills that make their own plush in Germany."

His animals are green through and through, not just on the outside, but also on the inside. The dangling and cuddly toys, for example, which nestle softly in larger children's hands, have their round bodies stuffed full of sheep's wool. We buy them from itinerant shepherds who nibble free the Eifel meadows with their herds and keep the Rhine embankments as short as a golf course. The pink stuffed pig, for example, lazily lounging on its stomach, has rustling spelled chaff padding its satchel. His little brother stuffed his stomach with cherry stones. Both can be warmed up and put on children's tummies.