The Lübeck Museum of Theatre Puppets (in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

: ''TheaterFigurenMuseum Lübeck'') is a museum of international puppetry in the

Hanseatic The Hanseatic League (; gml, Hanse, , ; german: label=German language, Modern German, Deutsche Hanse) was a Middle Ages, medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Central Europe, Central and Norther ...

city of

Lübeck Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the state ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Collection

Fritz Fey Jr's private ''TheaterFigurenMuseum Lübeck'' is located on a narrow street called ''Kolk'' situated close to the

Holstentor The Holsten Gate ( Low German and German: ''Holstentor'') is a city gate marking off the western boundary of the old center of the Hanseatic city of Lübeck. Built in 1464, the Brick Gothic construction is one of the relics of Lübeck's medieva ...

and below the brick Gothic St. Peter's church in the

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

city centre of Lübeck. For decades Fey has collected anything related to the history of puppeteering in Germany and abroad and has exhibited part of his collection in this

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...

which comprises five medieval brick houses. It can well compete with the internationally renowned corresponding collections of the ''Münchener Stadtmuseum'' in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

or the ''Dresdner Puppenmuseum'' in

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

and is a widely acknowledged enrichment of Lübeck's museum scene, sponsored above all by the City of Lübeck and a private

charitable foundation A foundation (also a charitable foundation) is a category of nonprofit organization or charitable trust that typically provides funding and support for other charitable organizations through grants, but may also engage directly in charitable act ...

, the ''Possehl-Stiftung''. The museum contains some thousand exhibits from three centuries and three continents (Europe, Africa and Asia). They demonstrate that puppeteers have always and everywhere tried to hold a mirror up to their societies. The puppets they have used are technically quite different:

glove puppet Glove puppetry () is a type of opera using cloth puppets that originated during the 17th century in Quanzhou or Zhangzhou of China's Fujian province, and historically practised in the Min Nan-speaking areas such as Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, the Chaosh ...

marionette A marionette (; french: marionnette, ) is a puppet controlled from above using wires or strings depending on regional variations. A marionette's puppeteer is called a marionettist. Marionettes are operated with the puppeteer hidden or revealed ...

s, rod- and finger puppets,

shadow puppet Shadow play, also known as shadow puppetry, is an ancient form of storytelling and entertainment which uses flat articulated cut-out figures (shadow puppets) which are held between a source of light and a translucent screen or scrim. The cut-out ...

ventriloquist Ventriloquism, or ventriloquy, is a performance act of stagecraft in which a person (a ventriloquist) creates the illusion that their voice is coming from elsewhere, usually a puppeteered prop known as a "dummy". The act of ventriloquism is ve ...

's dummies, mechanical puppets, five-in-one puppets: all these puppets are represented in this museum. The stars of the museum are the imaginative shadow puppets from Indonesia ( Wayang), "Moto Rafael, the Electric Drawer", the "Dog Clown" that was used in scenes with real dogs, or the technically sophisticated "metamorphoses" - to name but a few. In addition to the great variety of puppets the museum displays posters, props, scenery, costumes, musical instruments and even entire

puppet theater A puppet is an object, often resembling a human, animal or mythical figure, that is animated or manipulated by a person called a puppeteer. The puppeteer uses movements of their hands, arms, or control devices such as rods or strings to mov ...

s, i. e, all the attributes of high-quality puppeteering. By means of a museum quiz youths and their parents can playfully dive into the world of puppeteers. In the video room a short documentary shows puppet plays from all over the world. The museum has a shop and a café in which the visitors can relax among old marionettes and illustrations of gruesome and moralising

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

s formerly recited by street singers.

Publications

* TheaterFigurenMuseum Lübeck / Figurentheater Lübeck / UNIMA Deutschland, ''Fundsache: KRAMER - entdeckt, erkundet, entwickelt'', Theaterfiguren im Kolk - Band 1: Sonderausstellung - Filmnacht - Symposium, Puppen & Masken, Frankfurt 2012, * TheaterFigurenMuseum Lübeck / UNIMA Deutschland, ''Im Reich der Schatten - Chinesisches Schattentheater trifft Peking-Oper'', Theaterfiguren im Kolk - Band 2: Katalog zur Sonderausstellung, Puppen & Masken, Frankfurt 2012,

References

* Urbschat, K. (text) and Fritz Fey jun. (photos), 1999. ''Historische Theater-Figuren'', Museum für Puppentheater Lübeck, Sammlung Fritz Fey jun. Lübeck: DrägerDruck.

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lubeck Museum Of Theatre Puppets Puppet museums Museums in Schleswig-Holstein Culture in Lübeck Buildings and structures in Lübeck Puppetry in Germany