Puppets

I went to Germany again 18 months ago and whilst in the beautiful town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber I stumbled across this amazing puppet, doll and toy museum in a small cobbled stoned street.

I met Katharina Engels who has spent 50 years collecting dolls, toys and puppets. She houses the largest private collection in Germany and surrounding Europe. Katharina and I could not really communicate with each other-I had no German and her no English, but there was a lovely lady there that translated for us. My friend Doris Haddock, who I was travelling with took photos and Katharina gave me some souvenirs.

I arranged to email Katharina questions in German, which were translated back and forth by my friend Carmen Anders. This is how I conducted the interview.

Katharina’s story of growing up during World War Two and her escape from Allied bombs gives an insight into why she started to collect dolls-it’s an amazing story.

I pitched this idea to Australian Dolls Bears and Collectables Magazine and it was published last year.

You can download this story and read about Katharina here.

Have a look inside the museum at www.spielzeugmuseum.rotherburg.de

I love Germany-wonderful, friendly, country!

The Museum