How exactly are marionettes operated? Here we can observe the skilled performance with strings and a puppeteer's cross, the clever transfer of the marionettes and the close proximity of three puppeteers standing on the narrow wooden bench. This care and closeness often leads to the marionettes becoming ‘family members’ for the puppeteers.

Film clips from ‘Pole Poppenspäler lebt noch’, 1962, © rbb Media GmbH