Maker record
Schildkröt
Schildkröt is a German maker of dolls and related playthings, with roots in a Mannheim rubber and celluloid goods factory established in 1873. It began making dolls from celluloid in 1896, a material that enabled washable, brightly coloured play dolls but was highly flammable. The maker became known for character dolls including the Schildkröt-Kinder series, introduced in the 1930s. From 1953 it used Tortulon, developed with Käthe Kruse, as a replacement for celluloid. The brand continues through a successor company producing dolls.
- Founded
- 1873
The story of Schildkröt
The Rheinische Hartgummi-Waren-Fabrik was established in 1873 and made celluloid goods. It began producing dolls in 1896, using celluloid for washable, colourfast play dolls. The company later became known by the Schildkröt name, which entered its company name in 1965. In 1929 it joined I.G. Farben; the museum records that the firm was aryanised after 1933 and that Jewish supervisory-board member Richard Lenel was forced to flee Germany in 1938.
The Schildkröt-Kinder dolls were developed as a named series during the 1930s: Inge and Hans were registered as marks in 1933, Strampelchen followed in 1935, and Bärbel and Christel or Christian in 1937. Modeler Franz Döbrich designed the series. After the war the company replaced celluloid with Tortulon, developed with Käthe Kruse from 1953 because celluloid was highly flammable. The successor Schildkröt Puppen- und Spielwaren GmbH continued doll production, with examples of postwar Tortulon dolls documented from the 1950s.