Hänneschen-Theater

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Hänneschen-Theater is a traditional puppet theater in Cologne, Germany, founded in 1802. The stage is on Eisenmarkt in downtown Cologne. The shows take place in Knollendorf, a fictional village near Cologne. The puppets represent typical Cologne people and include Tünnes, Schäl, Hänneschen and Bärbelchen, along with others. The theater offers works for adults and children and the puppets are an important part of the Cologne Carnival, where a puppet session parodies the usual carnival program. The two best-known puppets are Tünnes and Schäl. Tünnes is friendly and practical; his name is the Rhine German form of Anthony. Schäl is thinner, may have squinted eyes, and wears a tailcoat; his name can hint at “two-faced” in Kölsch. Tünnes was added in 1803 by Christoph Winters, the founder of the first Hänneschen theater. Schäl was added in 1847 in a rival theater run by Franz Millewitsch, ancestor of Willy Millowitsch; Millewitsch paired Schäl with Tünnes as a sly foil to Winters.