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.

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.

[4] She began to make dolls for her own kids because Max Kruse thought the mass-manufactured ones were "hideous" and refused to buy them.

[3] Being generally uninterested in politics (except as it affected business), she placed her dolls together with figures of soldiers and welcomed Hjalmar Schacht to the German Pavilion.

[2] So, together with two of her sons (including the children's book author, Max, jr.), they started dollmaking workshops in Bad Pyrmont and Donauwörth and even managed to establish themselves in the Federal Republic.

The bodies are either made with muslin and stuffed with reindeer hair, or have an inner wire skeleton covered with tricot knitting.

Over the years, Käthe's daughter and successor, Hanne Adler-Kruse, introduced new items made of velour or terrycloth for babies.