Once upon a time... The hörbert Story
hörbert writes history –
and takes you on his journey.
When Rainer Brang was looking for a suitable music player for his little son, he simply did not find what he was looking for among the established manufacturers. No company offered what he was looking for: an easy-to-use, childproof, durable, sustainably produced, high-quality and repairable music player for kids.
He decided to build his own playback device for his son – hörbert was born. hörbert’s concept is the answer to the plastic advance in the children’s room and the trend towards a disposable mentality.
The father of the family tinkered for 14 months before the first hörbert left the workbench in 2011. Since then, the then one-man company has grown to a team of 20 people. Since the first hörbert, who was allowed to emigrate with his German customer to Siberia, moved to the world, many thousands of children’s ears have already enjoyed the musical wooden box.
… and the second order from a certain Rolf Zuckowski was first thought by Rainer Brang to be a joke order, but when he asked, it turned out to be genuine.
That was the secret accolade for the founder and Zuckowski fan.
hörbert at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York
We are proud that hörbert’s unique wood design and the values it contains are always causing a sensation and recognition:
In the Museum of Modern Art in New York, hörbert was exhibited from 2014 to 2015 in the “Art Lab”, an art laboratory for children. Under the motto: Touch, try, use, hörbert went successfully through almost 40,000 visitor hands – and we did not get it back because it is still used at events.
We became regional winners of the KfW Award GründerChampions
In 2016 Winzki GmbH & Co. KG was officially named Baden-Württemberg state winner in the nationwide business competition kfW Award GründerChampions by a jury of experienced representatives from politics and business, state development institutes and chambers of industry and commerce.
We were honored for our innovative ability, creativity and commitment to social responsibility. This also includes the environmentally conscious implementation of our work and the creation of jobs and training positions in Germany.
Decision for self-organisation
An important course was set within our company, as we embarked on the exciting path of self-organisation in 2016. Since then, we have been replacing hierarchy with processes and creating a meaningful working environment according to our ideas.
WINZKI in the top 20 of the federal state prize for young companies
At the 12th Federal state Prize for Young Enterprises in 2018, we made it into the top 20 out of 375 applicants. The federal state prize for young companies is awarded every two years by the federal state government and L-Bank. It looks for companies that are economically successful and make a contribution to a sustainable society by acting responsibly. This time there were 375 applicants and we are proud to have made it this far.
hörbert as test winner at Stiftung Warentest
hörbert landed in 1st place in the 2019 test with a score of 1.8. 13 music players for children were tested. We are very proud of this rating, as it is the result of our constant efforts to offer our customers a product that is unique in terms of design and manufacturing.
The hörbert 2011 was tested in the basic configuration, without additional modules such as the automatic switch-off or the Bluetooth module.
Successful completion of our 1st Kickstarter campaign
In 2020, after shipping on time in 2019, we celebrated the successful completion of our first Kickstarter campaign, with 407 backers contributing €30,868 to make a project a reality: A retrofit Bluetooth module for hörbert.
Through hörbert’s expandability, the lifespan and useful life of the player can be extended – a core idea of sustainability that is anchored in our company DNA.
10 years hörbert – time for an update
In 2021 hörbert celebrated its 10th anniversary. Since the very beginning hörbert’s concept has been based on the highest quality in terms of materials and manufacturing by hand in Germany. None of the other music players for children available on the market can look back on such a long history as hörbert. Whereas at the beginning it was still a question of offering a player suitable for children in the first place, which is also a friend to parents due to its quality and running time, today the attributes of sustainability and openness are more important to us than ever.
Instead of forcing our customers into a licensing business, we open up hörbert with recording functions, Internet radio, Bluetooth streaming and microphone to all the wishes of free customers. Of course, we are retaining tried and tested features such as reparability and manufacture from renewable raw materials.
With our new hörbert, we have created a platform on which we can be there for our customers’ wishes more flexibly than ever in the future.
You are part of our history
With your hörbert, you are part of this success story. We thank you for your trust and look forward to you sharing your hörbert experiences with everyone. e.g. via our guestbook or social media channels…