Nuremberg kitchen

[1][2] Most surviving examples show variations on a standard form: a single reduced-scale room with the front wall and ceiling missing, rather like a miniaturized stage set, allowing convenient access to the interior and an unobstructed view of the minuscule items within.

[3] Typically, but not always, the fittings are arranged symmetrically, with a cooking range in the center of the rear wall (a raised masonry hearth with a chimney in early versions, or a metal stove in later ones), with cupboards, shelves, and other storage furniture to either side.

[7] However, these model kitchens are probably better understood as meant to encourage girls to adopt traditionally gendered social roles by making housekeeping seem fascinating through the appeal of attractive and impressive playthings.

It would have been much easier for mothers to teach their daughters how to cook by taking them to the real kitchens in their homes and having them observe and assist with preparing meals than to provide miniaturized counterparts.

Instead, they were intended to generate wonder and amusement, to make kitchens seem magical, and thereby inspire girls to anticipate and desire their traditionally expected future roles as homemakers.