The Fable of ZAUNKÖNIG: Our Story
Why is our brand actually called ZAUNKÖNIG®? Because we were inspired by the old fable about ZAUNKÖNIG - the German word for "wren" and the smallest bird: It tells of courage, imagination, and the strength to forge one’s own path—exactly what we wish for our children and what our brand embodies.
An old fable
There is an old fable that we love so much that it gave us the name for our brand. It tells of a contest among birds: Who should become king of the skies? The bird that flies the highest. Everyone bets on the eagle—strong, large, and majestic. And indeed: no one can keep up with him. But when the eagle reaches his limits, a little wren flutters out of his plumage just a little higher. He becomes king—not because he is the strongest, but because he acts with courage and ingenuity.
What the wren teaches us
This story has deeply inspired us. Because it shows: greatness doesn’t always lie in strength and volume, but in courage, creativity, and the ability to blaze new trails. That’s exactly how we see children. They’re full of ideas, full of wisdom—if we just look closely. They discover their world in their own way, invent stories, and find solutions that sometimes leave us adults speechless.
Courage for children—and for ourselves
And it is precisely in this that we recognize ourselves. ZAUNKÖNIG® is not just a brand for children, but also an expression of our own journey: as a mom of two children, daring to try something new, entering a world dominated by big players with a small label. For us, this too means courage, freedom, and the joy of forging our own paths.
More than just furniture
For us, ZAUNKÖNIG® is both a symbol and an attitude. We want to create products that take children seriously, that open up spaces for them where they can experiment, create, and grow. Furniture and objects that don’t speak of size or strength, but of freedom, imagination, and the courage to conquer the world from their own perspective.
We, the Zaunkönigs
That is why we bear this name. It reminds us that the greatest things are sometimes found in the small—in the courage to pursue an idea, in trust in children, in the belief that creativity changes the world. ZAUNKÖNIG® is both a symbol and an attitude for us: for our children, for our entrepreneurship, for a free life.
Illustration by book artist Friederike von Hellermann
