German Toy Museum
 Exterior view |
|
| Data | |
|---|---|
| place | Sonneberg , Beethovenstrasse 10 |
| Art | |
| opening | 1901 |
| management |
Reinhilt Schneider
|
| Website | |
| ISIL | DE-Sob4 |
The German Toy Museum was founded in 1901 on the initiative of the teacher Paul Kuntze (1867–1953) and is located in Sonneberg, Thuringia . The oldest German toy museum has been housed in a building originally built in 1901 for the Meininger Oberland industrial and trade school since 1938 .
Collections and content
When it was founded, toys were just one of the museum's main collection focuses. Today it has an inventory of around 100,000 objects, including around 60,000 toys from all over the world. Important exhibits include Thuringian porcelain dolls from the 19th century, the earliest Käthe Kruse dolls , wooden toys from various regions, toys from ancient Egypt and antique toys from Greece and Rome . Furthermore, slot machines with moving figures can be seen.
The collection of antiquities was brought together by Pierre Mavrogordato , who sold it to the museum between 1938 and 1944.
Graphs
From today's perspective, the most important holdings of the museum include the show pieces “Thuringian Kirmes” and “Gulliver in Liliput”.
The Thuringian Fair , housed in the new extension, was the contribution of the Sonneberg toy maker to the 1910 World Exhibition in Brussels . On an area of 72 m², a group of 67 lifelike figures is shown against the backdrop of a small Thuringian-Franconian town. They represent the hustle and bustle on a fairground at the turn of the century (1900). The idea of the then director of the industrial school Reinhard Möller was implemented by a total of 37 Sonneberg companies. The show group received a Grand Prix of the World's Fair.
The Sonneberg merchant Adolf Fleischmann (1819–1895) suggested the Gulliver show group in Liliput . This painted work of art made of bread dough, created in several copies in 1843/44, depicts Gulliver's experiences in Liliput . It was exhibited at the General German Trade Exhibition in Berlin in 1844 and at the London Industrial Exhibition in 1851 and received several awards.
After a copy of the display group was destroyed at an exhibition that took place in 1956 during the Hungarian People's Uprising , it was restored by Gerhard Bätz . Today there are two copies of the display group in the museum.
Modernization and expansion
The toy museum is currently being fundamentally renovated structurally and conceptually. The first construction phase (2012-2014) consisted of a new extension behind the main building. It houses the Thuringian Kirmes group of figures, the museum cash register, the museum shop, the cloakroom and the sanitary facilities. The planned second construction phase includes the renovation of the main building. In addition, an old trade school is to be integrated into the museum complex. The museum will remain open during the entire construction work.
literature
- Otto Keil : Toys. A walk through the German Toy Museum in Sonneberg. Urania Universum Volume 2, 1956, pp. 494-504
Web links
- Website of the German Toy Museum
Individual evidence
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original dated August 11, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ MDR start of construction for expansion ( Memento from April 4, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
Coordinates: 50 ° 21 ′ 42 " N , 11 ° 10 ′ 40" E