Huge Playmobil factory is now rented out: 350 jobs gone

Dietenhofen (Bavaria) – It’s a farewell with an announcement, and yet it hits many people hard. Production of Playmobil toys ends on June 30th in Dietenhofen, Bavaria. For the employees it is the end of an era. All 350 employees lose their jobs.

“Of the Production relocation of the Playmobil factory In Dietenhofen, all employees working there are affected,” confirmed the Brandstätter Group, to which Playmobil belongs, when asked by BILD.

The factory premises are huge

Large parts of the huge company premises are now in use Bayern for rent. It is offered on a real estate platform as an “industrial campus with 90,000 square meters of production and logistics space”. The areas will be available from July 1st. The halls can be divided: cuts are available from 2500 square meters. The entire area is huge: 167,000 square meters of land area is equivalent to around 23 football fields.

In addition to the high-bay warehouse with 100,000 pallet spaces, production halls, logistics zones, silo infrastructure (in which the plastic granulate was stored, which forms the basis for the Playmobil figures) as well as office and social areas are available for rent Property. Possible uses: industrial manufacturing, logistics, e-commerce, warehouse. A data center is also being discussed. The Brandstätter Group itself wants to continue producing Lechuza brand flower pots there.

Where Playmobil will be produced in the future

Playmobil production in Dietenhofen closes after 57 years. The most important factory for manufacturing and assembly is now Hal Far in Malta. It has existed since the 1970s. A central production facility for toy Playmobil also operates in the Czech Republic (Cheb). The locations in Herrieden (logistics) and the headquarters in Zirndorf (Bavaria) remain unchanged. This is a concern worldwide Pursue According to its own information, around 2,500 employees.

The reason for closure and layoffs

It’s been a long time Playmobil in crisis. In the 2022/23 financial year, the company made loss for the first time in the company’s history. Last year is the complete Playmobil works council resigns. In 2023/24, the Horst Brandstätter Group’s consolidated sales fell from 736 million euros to around 490 million euros. The core Playmobil brand is particularly hard hit, with sales falling from around 614 million euros to 381 million euros. The company reacts with restructuring and Job cuts. It cites weak economic activity, high inflation, rising costs for wages, transport and energy as well as noticeable consumer restraint as the causes. Sales, for example, from the Danish toy competitor Lego is growing but year after year.

With the closure of the Playmobil factory in Bavaria, a chapter of German industrial history ends. For decades, Playmobil was synonymous with “Made in Germany” in children’s rooms.