Hessisches Puppenmuseum

Description

In the Brothers Grimm town of Hanau in Hesse, the Hessische Puppen- und Spielzeugmuseum houses a comprehensive collection of historic dolls and toys and positions itself as a place for the preservation and interpretation of material cultural history.

The museum was founded in 1983 by the city of Hanau and the state of Hesse to make a culturally and historically valuable doll collection accessible to the public and to safeguard it permanently. Since its opening, the institution has been operated by a non-profit association. The exhibition rooms are located in the arcaded building of the historic Wilhelmsbad spa complex, which is administered by the State Palaces and Gardens of Hesse.

The exhibition space has been expanded several times; the core collection and the exhibition concept have been continuously developed. More recent departments include, for example, objects from antiquity and a Japan section created in collaboration with the doll museum of Hanau’s partner city, Tottori.

Currently, on more than 800 m², dolls from antiquity to the present are exhibited. In addition to thematic special exhibitions, works by contemporary doll artists are on display, and the influence of toys on the formation of values is explored. The museum provides exhibition space to artists and craftspeople, mainly from the region and from Japan. The institution places great value on interactive experience; touching, listening and trying things out are explicitly encouraged. In addition, the museum has an approximately 20-metre-long Carrera Digital 132 racetrack, which is operated on selected weekends with private and museum-owned vehicles.