Gridskipper

A wide selection of uncannily real mannequins is the secret of Atelier Mohr's success. Founded 30 years ago by husband and wife team Bärbel und Reinhold Mohr, the firm first found renown providing cosmetic surgery… to showroom dummies injured in the vicious fashion wars of the 1980s. Developing their own line to fill a burgeoning demand for ultra-real, ultra-sexy synthetic friends, they offered all-too-human dolls made-to-order for sale or rent. By 2004, new owner Jan Weggener had expanded the client list to include not only clothing retailers and fashion houses but also theaters and filmmakers as well. Indeed, as the trailer indicates, these "young," "flexible," and "discrete" lifelike mannequins appeal to all manner of ... uh ... "enthusiasts." [link]

Upon arriving in Berlin several years ago, I rented a small apartment wedged between an overgrown cemetery and the studios of Dollepuppen Berlin. Thus my nightmares were populated not only by corpses risen from… the earth but by the fantastic creations of Judith Mähler und Katja Kriegenburg that I often spied through their showroom window. Educated in theater design and costumery, their work ranges from the familiar marionettes, grotesques, and full-size figures for stage and film to such disturbing pieces as "a visit to a concentration camp" and a heap of gargantuan kidneys. Years on, I've moved off to another neighborhood, and while my apartment is more spacious, my nightmares are much the poorer. [link]

Every star's gotta start somewhere. The program at the Ernst Busch Academy will transform you from a bamboozled newbie who doesn't know a marotte from a marionette into a glamorous puppet professional in a mere… eight semesters. With a firm grounding in both traditional and contemporary puppetry followed up with courses in singing, laughing, crying, and whispering, you'll soon be ready to conquer the world from behind your tiny stage. [link]

Not actually a puppet shop, the Puppenstube in Nikolaiviertel is, instead, a doll collector's paradise. With products from over 230 manufacturers, it specializes in expensive, artistic collectibles from such firms… as Elisabeth Lidner, Hummel, and hometown favorite Schildkröt (which has been giving birth to these creepy creations for over a hundred years). Perhaps the only thing more unsettling than the expressions of these ultra-realistic plastic children is the fact that they are in such high demand around the globe. For those "collectors" too embarrassed to be seen entering the store, the online shop offers a discrete delivery service. [link]

Founded in 1984 by graduates of the Ernst Busch Academy, this puppet theater is located deep in the west, opposite Charlottenburg Palace. While many of its performances are geared toward the entertainment of young… crotchfruit, Friday and Saturday nights are reserved strictly for adults with performances of such classics as Goethe's Faust and E.T.A. Hoffman's criminal thriller Das Fräulein von Scuderi. Performances are accompanied by live music and are limited to fifty seats, so arrive early to avoid the crush of papier-mâché partygoers. [link]

Experts agree that the first puppets were created thousands of years ago, and the history of puppet theater spans the globe. In Germany, puppetry joined the stage of the "higher arts" as early as 1810, when Heinrich… von Kleist published his essay On the Marionette Theater. The Puppentheater Museum, founded a decade ago to inform and educate, offers visitors a journey into the history of the art with puppets collected from Europe, Africa, and Asia. Temporary exhibitions emphasize the global nature of the art form. The permanent exhibition gives special attention to the history of Berlin's puppet theaters, which have offered amusement to a population often beset by war, hunger, occupation, and poverty. [link]

Formed in 1993 by an act of the city government, the Schaubude is Berlin's preeminent stage for national and international "puppet based artists" and "object theater." Performances range from the traditional to… obscenely experimental, and the Schaubude also organizes special projects, festivals, and symposia spanning all aspects of puppetry. Outfitted with state of the art light, sound, and video and providing seating for over 150 spectators, the Schaubude's two stages are puppetry's bleeding edge. [link]

Plunked down in the center of Berlin's hotter-than-hot Brunnenstrasse gallery row, Thomas Mierau's Theater Mirakulum… presents comedies and satires for every age group. Arriving in Berlin 30 years ago, Mierau found himself moving between the worlds of film, music, and puppetry, and helping to develop the puppetry program at Ernst Busch Academy before founding the Mirakulum. Object theater enthusiasts can attend Mierau's workshops on creating hand puppets, stick puppets, and marionettes, or simply enjoy his adults- only productions of Rumpelstiltskin and Snow White. [link]

The Weinholds, Barbara and Günter, came to Berlin by way of Dresden's prestigious Academy of the Visual Arts, where they delved into theater design, sculpture, and costumery. Before long, they were making a name… for themselves in puppetry circles for their skillful combining of traditional techniques and contemporary themes. Through their collaboration with puppet theaters around Europe and locally with such prestigious Berlin stages as the Staatsoper and Hebbeltheater, the Weinholds have played a leading role in the city's updating of puppetry for the new millennium. [link]