A Puppet Museum

In Bad Kreuznach

Some of us took a tour of a puppet museum. This is a very ancient form of story telling from earliest history. Every country has its own version of "Punch/Punchinello/Polichinelle/Petrouska/Casperli/etc.
Puppets are allowed to say things that others might not be allowed, and to be violent and humorous in doing so. The shows could be cathartic.

An old Korean puppet of a fisher boy. The stories were presented over water on a lake or pond.

Asian puppets were used thousands of years ago.

Shadow puppets

A modern marionette 

Hand puppets

Medieval puppets that traveling troupes presented in stories at festivals and homes. 

A risque yodeller girl who showed her striped pantaloons at the end of her dance.  She drew crowds.

Her companions

Paper puppets and stage

Pinocchio hand puppets

Large stage puppets

The solution of a wooden puppet head. The puppets were quite rowdy, so they needed to be re-made regularly. Each  puppet group had its own style, so puppet makers kept files of their designs for re-makes.

Modern plastic puppets

Casperli is the German puppet, with his own song and companions. He was invented by a German, Max Jacob, after the World War, to cheer people up. Soon every kindergarten and most homes had Casperli puppets to teach children. Even today towns across German-speaking countries regularly present Casperli puppet shows at festivals. Sometimes he is a simple hand puppet, sometimes an elaborate hand puppet with legs, and sometimes a string puppet.

Mozart. Intricate costume puppet, quite large

A famous puppet opera still being shown.

Part of the Salzburg puppet opera, with very elaborate costumes. Half life-size figures. This is Empress Maria Theresia.

Young Mozart in an audience before the Empress. Large puppets from Salzburg.

Very large perforated leather flat puppets from Indonesia, used in dances.

Close up

Flat puppets from Turkey

Die Alte Dame, a Swiss puppet

A modern puppet for early TV. Whole families made grandma wait for  their arrival for Sunday coffee , so  they could watch the puppet show first.

Modern puppets for old Greek plays. The classic Greek playwriters wrote for puppet theatre, too, 400 B.C.