The Alte Schule Puppet Museum is a puppetry arts museum, performance and educational center nestled in the charming village of Datterode, 175 miles south of Berlin; 115 miles Northeast of Frankfurt.
Home to over 200 puppets, the Alte Schule Puppet Museum is a project by Steven Ritz-Barr, a Master puppeteer/filmmaker with more than 45 years of experience in Los Angeles and Paris.
Opening in the Summer of 2024, the museum will house permanent exhibits and also temporary traveling exhibits that embody puppetry and associated arts (robotics).
This Alte Schule, built in 1901, was the elementary school of Ritz-Barr's wife, Dr. Beate Ritz, who grew up in Datterode, Germany. The building had been used as a community office since 1985 until the COVID pandemic caused the community to sell it.
