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Doll and Toy MuseumPuppen und Spielzeug MuseumRothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany
ABOVE: A souvenir postcard shows a display of dolls and an antique train set at the Puppen & Spielzeug Museum in Rothenburg. Toys have long held a fascination for Germans--and for visitors to Germany. In his essay, German Toys, Andreas Thomsen writes:
When you visit, you may be fortunate enough to meet the owner, Katharina Engels, who began her current collection as a teenager after her childhood dolls were destroyed by Allied bombing in World War II. She brought the collection to Rothenburg ob der Tauber in 1984, and today her museum (which occupies several floors in a 15th Century house) is one of Rothenburg's most popular tourist attractions. Next page: Practical information, Web link
Postcard photos copyright © Katharina Engels Puppen & Spielzeug Museum. Used by permission. | |||||||||||||||||
Nowhere
is the German fascination with toys more evident than in the Puppen &
Spielzeug Museum, or Doll and Toy Museum, in Rothenburg ob der Tauber. The
museum, which began as a private collection more than 60 years ago, draws some
40,000 visitors a year. Its collection includes more than 800 dolls, most of
which were manufactured in Germany and France from the late 1700s through 1940.
Other exhibits include antique doll houses, doll shops, doll classrooms, doll
kitchens, doll bedrooms, doll music rooms, doll theatres, and other environments
for Puppen--together with a generous sampling of other vintage playthings
such as tea sets, carousels, stuffed animals, trains, tin soldiers, and carved
wooden toys.