
About us
Kolk 17 Blog
This blog is the project of KOLK 17 an institution that ist fully committed to the subject of puppet, figure and object theatre. Together with different authors we want to present puppet theatre from different perspectives.
What’s News?
Tove and the Moomins – a fantastic story
Alma Pöysti in Tove © Helsinki-filmi Our reasons to present this article are threefold - We would like to introduce an exceptionally strong female...
The glass man from Schichtls fairytale “The cold heart”
Since the fifteenth century, the second of January has been a day of significance for the suspicious. It is called “Man of the forest” day and is...
Our Marotte – The oldest item in the KOLK17 collection
French Marotte © Kolk17 These days, a Marotte is understood to be a more or less endearing idiosyncrasy, something about a person which is perhaps a...
Modern Rooms behind historical facades – Drone recordings of the Kolk
In October of 2021, the former Puppet Theatre of Lübeck (Kolk 20/22) had it’s internal structure removed with the help of a crane leaving only the...
Ten questions: an interview with the set and costume designer Denise S. Puri.
Denise Puri at the opening of the special exhibition 'Asian Travels' Denise S. Puri was born in the United States of America in 1966, moving to...
Historical paintings in the Kolk – preserved for the future
In the early 1990’s the remnants of historical paintings were discovered in the Kolk buildings. However it was not until the renovations of...
“Who’s Talking?” Research Project
Shasha Li reports from Chaozhou on her work for “Who’s Talking?”
Exhibition preparations are always exciting and the last few weeks before the opening are the most intense and beautiful phase of the work - the...
Stephan Schlafke
Puppeteer and artistic director of "KOBALT Figurentheater Lübeck" and "KOLK17" Stephan Schlafke, born in 1962 in Berlin, co-founded and directed the...
Mandy Okereke
Mandy Okereke is a Berlin based cultural manager and art historian with a B.A in Area Studies and M.A in Art History in a Global Context, both with...
A look in the depot
Data, data, data or handouts for successful teamwork
While the renovation work in Kolk 14-22 continues, we as a team in the background are taking the opportunity to prepare for the opening of KOLK 17...
The glass man from Schichtls fairytale “The cold heart”
Since the fifteenth century, the second of January has been a day of significance for the suspicious. It is called “Man of the forest” day and is...
Our Marotte – The oldest item in the KOLK17 collection
French Marotte © Kolk17 These days, a Marotte is understood to be a more or less endearing idiosyncrasy, something about a person which is perhaps a...
Intangible World Heritage Site: Sogo bò The Appearance of Animals
What do elephants, lions, antelopes, hornbills, buffalo and hyenas all have in common? They are all animals that live in the savannah and light...
Object of the week: Noble simplicity, quiet grandeur? Not with us!
Our Kasper shows his teeth - a broad grin on his face, which is the epitome of mischievous humour with bright red chubby cheeks and raised eyebrows....
Freshly arrived in our library: Puppetry international!
Freshly arrived in our library: Puppetry international! 'Puppetry international'. The puppet in contemporary theatre, film and media as it is called...
Raise the curtain
Football in puppet theatre? – Is that even possible?
It exists and is without question possible! It was completely unexpected when we saw the play for the first time. Produced by Flunker productions:...
Creating the ‘Bremen Town Musicians’ stage
The stage of the Bremen Town Musicians - © Stephan Schlafke Due to Corona, we worked on the stage design in separate phases. In the first phase we...
17 years in the editorial department of “The Other Theatre” of UNIMA Germany
Founded in Prague in 1929 the Union Internationale de la Marionnette (UNIMA) is the association of all people interested in puppet theatre. It's...
Ten questions for Stefan Schlafke, director of Kolk 17 Puppet Theatre
Stephan Schlafke has been artistic director of the puppet theatre in Lübeck, now KOLK17, since 2007. In this interview he gives interesting insights...
Review: Karagöz Shadow Theatre – Emin Şenyer and Cengiz Özek as guests in Lübeck
One of the first collaborations of the former Museum of Theatre Puppets and the Puppet Theatre Lübeck in cooperation with the Turkish community in...
Breathing life into it… Work on our new piece begins
The four well-known animals of the puppet designer: Doris Gschwandtner © Gschwandtner/KOBALT Figurentheater HL As one grows older, one doesn't...
View of the construction site
Historical paintings in the Kolk – preserved for the future
In the early 1990’s the remnants of historical paintings were discovered in the Kolk buildings. However it was not until the renovations of...
Archaeological Excavation in the Kolk
Whenever construction work above and below ground begins on the island upon which the medieval town of Lübeck is situated, Archaeolologists’ work in...
10 questions for building researcher Dr. Margrit Christensen
Dr. Margrit Christensen has been a building researcher in Lübeck for over 40 years. She shares her unique knowledge of the UNESCO World Heritage...
Blog for puppet theatre

About us
KOLK 17 puppet theatre & museum
Together we want to present puppet theatre from different perspectives.
On this blog we publish insights into the scientific work of the museum and the creation of pieces of puppet theatre. We look back on past actions and present new (virtual) exhibitions and performances. Recently, the virtual exhibition “Colonialism and Puppet Theatre. Untangling the threads” and the digital children’s series “Corona in the Moose forest”.
We are looking forward to your feedback!
Leave us a comment or contact info@kolk17.de with praise and criticism.
Raise the curtain!
Digital and analogue puppet theatre in all its facets
In the column “Curtain up!” the puppet theatre presents on this blog regular news updates from in front of and behind the scenes.
The authors Silke Technau and Stephan Schlafke have so far presented, among other things, the variety of acting techniques in puppet theatre, reported on their work on the new play “Cherry-Picking Shakespeare” and are currently working on the research project “Puppet & micro camera”. They also published their first digital puppet theatre series “Corona in the Moose forest” based on the play “Troll alarm in the Moose forest” on this blog. Together Silke Technau, Stephan Schlafke and Franziska Technau form the Kobalt Puppet Theatre in Lübeck.


A look in the depot
The world of theatre characters from a scientific perspective
While the Museum of Theatre Puppets in Lübeck is being rebuilt, the scientific processing of the collection in the museum archive continues in the background. On this blog our colleagues provide unique insights into their work (from inventory to object photography) and present the museum’s extraordinary collection.
The first virtual exhibition of the Museum of Theatre Puppets in Lübeck also appeared on this blog: “Colonialism and Puppet Theatre. Untangling the threads.”
Renovation
News from the construction site in Kolk
The buildings in the Lübeck Kolk are currently being restored. On one page of this blog we have collected everything worth knowing about this special construction site. You can also find your way through the construction site in our 360° virtual tours.
If you would like to receive regular up to date information, please contact us at: museum@kolk17.de
During the work on the more than 400-year-old historic merchant’s houses, we come across interesting insights into Lübeck’s history almost every day. We regularly share these on Twitter using the hashtag #KolkNews.
