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Depesche - Geesthacht

We were in Germany and as big Diddl fans we wanted to see the Diddl shops and we were invited to take a trip to Geesthacht, home of Depesche. Geesthacht was about a 10 minute drive from where we were staying in Hamburg and I was so excited to see where Diddl lives. Seeing the 'Vierlanderstr" sign was so exciting, as I knew we would soon see the big headquarters! But I didn't expect it to be quite as big as it was!

Driving down the street, there were two main buildings, one on either side of the road, with a modern glass bridge joining them both. Towards the end of the road, the offices of Depesche were attached to the large, older warehouse.

This is a photo of the newer, modern warehouse. It is so big, holding 20,000 pallets of Diddl stuff, yet only a few people work inside as it is all automated - so clever! We found it interesting to see the pallets of Diddly goodies travelling along a conveyor belt across the bridge!

Here, we are looking back up the street and you can see the older warehouse on the right. The red brick is part of the offices around the back of the warehouse. In this photo, you can see our wonderful new friends, Wiebke and Janin, who were talking to colleagues through the windows.

This sign was so exciting to see - I love the little Diddl footprints. I was also so excited to see snow but there were no Diddl footprints in the snow! hehe!

I loved that everywhere inside was covered in Diddl. This display shows the latest products. I also loved looking around the offices and seeing all the staff using Diddl pens, on Diddl notepaper, with Diddl screensavers on their computer, Diddl mouse mats...everything!! Everywhere was so colourful, which reflected what a fun and exciting place it was. Everything inside was clean and bright - so lovely!!

One of my favourite places to visit, was the design sections. We were introduced to a lady who was creating a design for a 3D mug. She was using images that had already been drawn and was combining them together to create a new design for a mug. It was so clever seeing how it was done - so many layers were used to get the image just right. I also liked meeting the people who coloured the images drawn by Thomas Goletz. We met a man who showed us the latest Diddl book he was working on. The Big Book of Diddl and his Friends (Das groβe Buch von Diddl und seinen Freunden) is designed and translated into lots of different languages, and he was busy on the latest version. The Big Book of Diddl is one of the most beautiful hard back books - the images inside are gorgeous...I recommend it for any Diddl fan. I have a copy of the German version - I hope one day Diddl may have an English version.

My favourite room of the offices was where our new friend Janin worked. She works in the textile department, designing plush products, bags, Diddly clothes. It was amazing seeing the prototypes (especially the HUGE Mimihopps, which was my favourite!) and the new ranges for this year. I loved seeing the new 2005 Mimihopps and Pimboli Autumn range, similar to my favourite range of all time: the 2004 Mimihopps and Pimboli range!

Below you can see inside the older warehouse. This is just a teenie-tiny section. This photo doesn't do the warehouse justice - the place was huge! This photo was taken at the top of a staircase, so there are more Diddl products below! We loved watching the people working in the warehouse - especially seeing how they travelled around the big warehouse...on scooters! hehe!

Before we left, I went back up to the fan department. This is where the fan letters get answered, competition prizes get chosen and packed and where any replacement products are sent to children.

We were then off to see the city of Lubeck, but first, we said goodbye to our lovely friend Wiebke. She was a wonderful tour guide and help while we were at Depesche.

After visiting Depesche, we wanted to see the local Diddl shops and we bought lots of Diddly goodies!

We visited Lubeck, the home of Marzipan. I cannot stand marzipan, but it did look nice! hehe! Especially the marzipan shaped like fruit and vegetables. At the front of the photo is my sister, and I am near the back.

We went upstairs to the Marzipan restaurant and museum. I never knew there was so much to learn about marzipan! Peace enjoyed the visit too, but it was too cold for him to come out from his nice warm pocket in my bag! hehe!

From left to right, my sister, my mum, me, and our lovely friend Janin who showed us all the wonderful Diddl shops.

Lubeck is a beautiful city with lots of old buildings, churches and boats.

A big THANK YOU to Wiebke, Janin, Tom, Michaela, Claudia, Jasmin, and everyone at Depesche! You were all wonderful and we really enjoyed seeing the home of Diddl!