Käthe Kruse

Käthe Kruse, born Katharina Simon (17 September 1883, in Dambrau – 19 July 1968, in Murnau am Staffelsee) was a notable pioneer of German doll-making and went on to establish manufacturing principles which persist to this day. Her original dolls remain very collectible due to their realism and durability, and fetch high prices from collectors.

Life She was the love child of Breslau's Chief Accountant, Robert Rogaske, and seamstress Christiane Simon and grew up in very modest circumstances, even though her father did continue to visit and provide some support. After graduating from the public schools, she took acting classes and obtained a position at Berlin's Lessing Theater in 1900. She was also quite successful in other German cities and gave performances in Warsaw and Moscow as well under the stage name "Hedda Somin". In 1902, she met the sculptor and occasional set designer Max Kruse and became his mistress. Kruse had four children from a previous marriage, and went on to have eight children together. She began to make dolls for her own kids because Max Kruse thought the mass-manufactured ones were "hideous" and refused to buy them. She lost two of her sons in the war, and her husband died in 1942.

After the war, it was impossible to resume doll production in the Soviet occupation zone. In 1952, her company became a Volkseigener Betrieb ("Publicly Owned Corporation").

In Donauwörth, there is a Käthe-Kruse-Puppenmuseum. Permanent exhibitions may be found at the "Romanisches Haus" in Bad Kösen.