Berlin

Loving care for damaged dolls

Heads in jars; eyeballs in drawers. No, we're not describing the set of some B-movie horror-fest, but referring instead to the rather magical world of Berlin's dolls' hospitals.

Considering that these 'Puppenkliniken' hark back to an age when broken toys were carefully mended rather than simply thrown away, it's hard to believe that they still exist at all.

But in Berlin at least, poorly playthings benefit from a surprisingly wide choice of emergency healthcare.

Neukölln's Puppenklinik, for example, has been giving damaged dolls a new lease of life for over thirty years. The wonderful little workshop (above and below) is appropriately located in the district's quaint 'hidden village' of Rixdorf, and is brimming with nostalgic memories of childhoods past.

Across town in Wilmersdorf, Rosy's Doll and Teddy Clinic has likewise dispensed tender loving care to toys for several decades, while further afield, Renate's Puppenklinik (below) provides another venerable repair service.

Image credit: tokyofotosushi.wordpress.com

Image credit: tokyofotosushi.wordpress.com

Yet despite the relative abundance of Berlin's dolls' hospitals (and there are several others besides those mentioned here), the craft of toy restoration is inevitably in decline.

Every year clients are fewer, and the workshops tend to open just once or twice a week. They're one of Berlin's most nostalgic hidden gems, but who knows how long they'll still have patients to care for?

See also:
Berlin's cuddly toy soap opera
Neukölln's hidden village
A GDR toy museum

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