Papiertheatermuseum Hanau

The Papiertheatermuseum Hanau stands in the Historic Museum Schloss Philippsruhe, part of the city museums of Hanau in Hesse. It occupies a wing of the 18th-century palace in the Kesselstadt district. The only public museum in Germany devoted entirely to paper theatre, it was recognised in 2021 as an element of the national Intangible Cultural Heritage. The museum began as an initiative by lawyer Dietger Dröse, teacher Helmut Wurz and cultural official Klaus Remer in the late 1980s. It opened in 1990 and moved to the care of the Forum Papiertheater association two years later. After a 2015 closure for building repairs, the whole site is now being refurbished and will reopen at the end of 2024 on 320 square metres of display space. Visitors find a changing programme of temporary exhibitions alongside a growing permanent collection. The museum is assembling its own holdings, including the collections of its founder Helmut Wurz and paper-theatre collector Rüdiger Koch. Plans also include regular performances in the renewed play space, continuing the tradition of paper-theatre shows that once drew thirty-five touring companies to the site.