Museum Schloss Tenneberg

Description

At Schloss Tenneberg in Waltershausen, the Museum Schloss Tenneberg presents regional history and the development of the local doll‑making industry. The museum was founded in 1929 and has since documented the social, craft and industrial developments of the region.

Waltershausen is located in the district of Gotha in Thuringia; from the early 19th century the town developed into an important production centre of the German doll industry. In the workshops dolls were initially made from papier‑mâché and wood; bodies were later also produced from fabric and leather, often as sewn, stuffed bellows. Planning for a local history museum began at the end of 1926; after official approval the knight’s hall of the castle was converted and the museum opened on 20 October 1929. During the GDR period the holiday region received cultural support; in 1983 a local doll factory set up show rooms in parts of the castle, which, however, did not belong to the museum.

The museum was repeatedly the target of break‑ins: in 1973 the attic storage was plundered, and among other items a crossbow belonging to Duke Johann Casimir was lost. In 1991 two burglaries led to the loss of valuable artworks and objects, including faiences, a very old panel painting with what is probably the oldest depiction of Waltershausen, the carpenters’ guild chest, as well as pewter objects and cylindrical jugs; in the second incident that year the doll collection was affected. After an extensive renovation the museum closed in 1995 and reopened in 1996; thereafter the doll displays came more to the fore and the collections were expanded accordingly.

The permanent exhibitions are organised into town history and urban crafts and trades, folk culture and traditional costume, and the history of the doll industry. Numerous original dolls are shown, together with the succession of manufacturing techniques up to the present. In 2009 the programme included, among other things, the town history, the Tenneberger Schaumagazin with artefacts from town history, folk culture and crafts, a presentation of two centuries of rise and decline of the Waltershausen doll industry, series displays of celluloid and PVC dolls, as well as toys and doll furniture from the 19th century to after the Second World War. Visitors can usually explore the exhibitions independently; thematic guided tours are offered as a complement.