A scent of freshly brewed coffee fills the room, the muzzling of a cat sounds timidly from the roof - stroll through the life-size, wonderfully detailed 19th-century alley and simply step inside, into the midst of the animated, lively hustle and bustle of that time. Let yourself be inspired on an impressive and exciting voyage of discovery through the fairytale-like "turbulent" world, with valuable collections of antique, modern and mechanical dolls.
About 200 antique porcelain, wax, papermaché, wood and celluloid dolls from the 1800 to 1940, as well as exquisite modern character and ethnological artist dolls, are lovingly staged. Embedded in the walkable, old alley in which one can admire a colonial goods shop in an impressive stucco house, the good old living room of a wealthy family during the imperial period, a historical kitchen and e.g. the doll doctor in his workshop.
How it all began - A flourishing for the small border town Losheim/Eifel.
What 15 craftsmen here in Losheim have built in just one month borders on a small miracle. In the beginning it was only supposed to be a doll exhibition, but the initiators did not find it meaningful enough. "The task was to "stage antique dolls". "We would never have expected such a result." One of the operators tells us. An old alley with detailed half-timbered houses in the original style from around 1850, medieval archways covered with slate and old clay pans, copper gutters and colourful cornices - these facades alone are a wonderful eye-catcher. In addition, the antique interior decoration of the houses, which are lovingly detailed, can certainly be compared with the best museums in Germany.
Browse through the old grocery store in the impressive stucco house, with hundreds of old coffee and tea cans, the huge, original candy and cucumber glasses that grandma and grandpa loved so much - one or the other time you may even have gotten something sweet. Enter a living room around 1900, equipped with antique furniture, lamps and mannequins dressed in original clothes of that time. Right next door, the scent of coffee flows from the kitchen, where a delicious cake is being prepared. You can already hear the sound of the "moving" piano player, whose music echoes from the corner pub, where a host pours out from a bottle that never empties. In the shop window of a doll's shop the toys of the turn of the century shine and a doctor doll, who takes care of smaller and larger injuries, hammers and paints in his workshop. When the visitors see all this, the actual performers begin to "speak". They tell of a long, exciting life, of dear children who have finely combed their hair and changed their clothes. They tell of the good old days, but also of smoke, fire and war. They tell stories of collectors and museums, of numerous exhibitions and of old ladies who loved them last. Yes, if all these dolls could talk, you could listen to them for days on end, and new stories would appear again and again. A must for collectors, a journey into childhood for grandparents and an experience for everyone else.
in the Losheimer Ardenner Cultur Boulevard directly at the German-Belgian border.
The doll world of the ArsFigura
At the end of the 18th century and at the beginning of the 19th century, toys and dolls were given an educational role. They were specifically donated and used to prepare children for their later role in adult life. After the wooden, wax, cloth, papier-mâché and fashion dolls, the golden age of porcelain dolls began. Doll manufactories popped up throughout Europe. After the glazed porcelain dolls, Parian porcelain dolls were produced in England from 1850 to 1870. This was a matt unglazed porcelain that looked like marble (derived from the Greek island of Paros). Between 1860 and 1870, the first doll's heads were made in Germany and France from biscuit porcelain, which gave the dolls a natural complexion. The doll bodies themselves were made of leather, fabric or wood but there were also dolls made entirely of porcelain. The marking of the dolls was prescribed by a law from 1890. France's doll manufactories were leading until the end of the 19th century (In 1899, all French manufacturers joined forces to form the Société Francaise de Fabrication des Bébés et Jouëts (SFBJ). The German competition from Thuringia (then called Puppenland) took the lead at the beginning of the 20th century. The doll dreams of the doll mothers went around the whole world at that time. The best known doll manufacturers were Simon & Halbig, Armand/Marseille, Kestner, Kämmer & Reinhard, Bruno Schmidt, Gebrüder Heubach and many others.
Bisque Ethnological Dolls, from different African tribes show a different picture. Africa as it could be, without unrest, without hunger.