Searching for a suitable venue for around two thousand dolls' display - Display area prepared for approximately 2,000 dolls
Let's get down to the nitty-gritty of that damn puppet museum in Coburg.
A fresh venue and concept are still in the works for the approximately 2,000 dolls from the formerly adored Coburg Puppet Museum. Yep, you heard that right – these dolls ain't gonna sit idly in some storage room in Coburg anymore. Louay Yassin, the city's official yack-er to the German Press Agency, spilled the beans. Negotiations with other museums are underway, he said.
So what's the hold up, you ask? Well, the largest part of the Coburg Puppet Museum collection will stay put in the Kulturfabrik Cortendorf on the outskirts of Coburg. But the city's culture department is itching to show off these 4,000 exhibits—or at least a hefty chunk of 'em—to the public again. Only problem? Dolls ain't exactly all the rage like they were back in the '90s, and it's proving a struggle to find a spotlight for 'em.
The plan of showcasing parts of the exhibition at various locations has been in the works for quite some time, says Yassin. However, the city's got no museum educators left who can whip those dolls into exhibition-ready shape. Bummer, huh? The ex-director of the Coburg Puppet Museum now resides at the German Toy Museum in Sonneberg, Thuringia.
Visitor numbers at the Coburg Puppet Museum declined over the decades. By the end of 2022, the city council made the hard call to shut the museum down. Their reasoning? A drop in public interest and the fact that the museum building in the old town was teeming with barriers for folks with disabilities. Plus, the exhibition was scattered across more than 30 small rooms, making it tough for school classes to gather. But students made up a big chunk of their visitors.
After the closure, a private foundation was all set to nab the collection and exhibit it in nearby Rodental. But the project went belly-up in 2023, you guessed it, due to a lack of cold, hard cash. Since May 2024, the dolls, houses, accessories, and other gubbins have been tucked away in the Kulturfabrik Cortendorf on the northeast side of Coburg.
The dolls and accessories date from around 1800 to 1960. The museum offered a glimpse into how the bourgeoisie manipulated toys for child-rearing. Carin and Hans Lossnitzer, a yuppie couple from Ettlingen near Karlsruhe, first opened the museum in 1987 and showed off their private collection. Since two-thirds of the exhibits hailed from North Franconia or South Thuringia, the museum founders opted for Coburg as the location. In 2007, the city snapped up the collection and kept the museum running.
Coburg, Sonneberg, and Bamberg
Some other places where you might find the doll collection wandering around.
Word on the Street
As of now, there ain't no confirmed info on where the 2,000 dolls might find their new home. But Bavaria's no stranger to museums, with over 1,000 attractions, including specialty museums and art collections. The people of Bavaria love their unique, history-focused exhibitions, so it's only a matter of time before these dolls get their moment in the spotlight.
Wanna keep up with the latest gossip? Keep your ears peeled for any official announcements from Coburg city or Bavarian cultural authorities.
In the quest for a fresh home for the 2,000 dolls from the former Coburg Puppet Museum, potential venues are under consideration, reflecting the region's abundance of over 1,000 museums in Bavaria, which include specialty museums and art collections. As lifestyle enthusiasts might enjoy a display of historic dolls, it's possible that fashion-and-beauty or home-and-garden enthusiasts could find interest in a vocational training exhibition focusing on the historical manipulation of toys for child-rearing, as seen in the collection dating from 1800 to 1960.
