Hänneschen-Theater (; ) is a traditional
puppetry
Puppetry is a form of theatre or performance that involves the manipulation of puppets – wikt:inanimate, inanimate objects, often resembling some type of human or animal figure, that are animated or manipulated by a human called a puppeteer. S ...
-theatre in
Cologne
Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...
, Germany,
established in the year 1802. The stage is situated in a building on ''Eisenmarkt'' in
downtown Cologne.
The Hänneschen-Theater pieces are set in Knollendorf, a fictional village somewhere in the outskirts of Cologne. The popular puppets represent fictional characters who embody typical traits of Colognian people, and include Tünnes, Schäl, Hänneschen and Bärbelchen, as well as other unique characters. In addition to the ever-changing pieces that are staged for adults and children, the puppet shows are also an important part of the
Cologne Carnival. The carnival puppet session is each year a loving parody of a conventional Carnival session.
Puppets
Two of the more popular puppets are Tünnes and Schäl ( ). The name ''Tünnes'' is the
Rheinish form of
Anthony or
Antonius
Antonius is a masculine given name, as well as a surname. Antonius is a Danish language, Danish, Dutch language, Dutch, Finnish language, Finnish, Latin language, Latin, Norwegian language, Norwegian, and Swedish language, Swedish name used in Gre ...
; Tünnes is good natured and has a rural, farmer-type of common sense and cleverness. ''Schäl'' can refer to the squinted eyes of the two figures or also a term meaning or in the Kölsch dialect; Schäl is skinnier than Tünnes and wears a tailcoat.
Christoph Winters, the founder of the first Cologne Hänneschen puppet theater, introduced Tünnes to the ensemble in 1803. Schäl was introduced in 1847 in a competing theater run by Franz Millewitsch, an ancestor of actor
Willy Millowitsch. Millewitsch placed the sly figure of Schäl with the good-natured Tünnes, clearly a nudge against his clever competitor Winters.
References
External links
*
Theatres in Cologne
Puppet theaters
1802 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire
Puppetry in Germany
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