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The Bodo Hennig Story

The Art of Toymaking*
(The Bodo Hennig Story)
by Barbara Elster

More than fifty years ago, many of the small businesses in Germany were truly cottage industries. As World War II raged around them, many families in the Hennig homeland of Erzgebirge in southern Germany eked out a living making toys from the bountiful trees of the mountainous area. In a single- room cottage, an entire family would often work together cutting, carving, sanding, staining, and painting small toys. The finished toys would be hand-carried down from the mountains to the great toy center of Nuremberg and sold for pennies at the annual Christmas market. From there, they were shipped all over the world. 

The skills were passed from one generation to the next, and as the toys became more sophisticated, trade schools were established to train young men in toy development. In addition to wooden toys, the region of Erzgebirge is world-renowned for German nut-crackers and elaborate Christmas pyramids. It was into this tradition that Bodo Hennig was born in 1928. As a teenager in Erzgebirge, Bodo honed his woodworking skills and dreamed of a future building toys for children. When Russian troops occupied the region, Bodo's dreams were put on hold as he fled to the Alpen region of the Allg¬u in southern Germany. Most toy factories were shut down during the war as the demand for toys dropped off, and Bodo spent the ensuing five years making wooden cheese boxes for local farmers. Bodo's father joined him in the box business a short time later, but Bodo still spent his evenings designing and making doll houses and toys.

At the age of 21, Bodo debuted his work at the first postwar International Toy Fair in Nuremberg in 1949. There he gleaned important lessons in what the public was looking for in terms of design and quality, and returned home confident he could come up with a product that would sell, even though he had not taken a single order at the fair. Back at the drawing board, Bodo tried his hand at modern furniture designs, and they proved to be a great hit at the 1951 toy fair. 

By that time, Bodo had already established Bodo Hennig PuppenmØbel ("doll house furniture") Company in 1951. The company's first products were made entirely of wood, with fittings large enough, for small fingers to open and close. In fact, one thing that makes Bodo Hennig's doll house furniture and accessories so remarkable is that since the founding of the company, even the finest pieces are durable enough to be played with. With the exception of the glass miniatures designed for collectors, all Bodo Hennig doll house accessories are suitable for children from age three.

The line of wooden miniatures (just slightly larger than traditional 1" scale) ranges from white or brightly-colored furniture to classic reproduction pieces from the Alps and the sophisticated German Biedermeier period (1815 - 1848). All Bodo Hennig PuppenmØbel wooden miniatures are made in Germany from hardwoods indigenous to the region: cherry, pine, and maple. The latter is the wood of choice for most of the pieces since it is hard and durable, yet easy to work with. And, when finely sanded, maple takes on a yellowish-gold tint as it ages.

In the late 1970s, Bodo Hennig began using metal accessories manufactured at a nearby German foundry to complement its wood products. Many of these pieces replicate antiques and have moveable parts. An old-fashioned sewing machine has a trestle that moves up and down to trigger a bobbing needle. A parlor stove straight out of the 1910 Sears and Roebuck catalog has doors that open and close. Authentic period music wafts from a gramophone as you turn the crank to activate the turntable. Other delightful items include a working sausage grinder, a butter maker that churns, and scissors that cut. 

The Bodo Hennig Company is still located in Allg¬u, famous for King Ludwig's Fairytale Castle, Oberammergau, and Garmisch-Partenkirchen. In 1998 a multi-level factory was built to cope with expanding production needs. The company now employs more than 80 workers at the factory and about 100 others who work on the upholstery and finishing touches from their homes, like the home-workers who were employed by the fledgling Bodo Hennig company 50 years ago.

Now in his 70s, Bodo Hennig still enjoys skiing, hang-gliding, and walking in the beautiful mountains of his region. He spends many hours at his studio drawing board creating doll house accessories. Household items from earlier times hold a special fascination for him, especially if they have working parts. He proved his ability to design even the most complicated pieces several years ago when he created a working cash register complete with a bell that signaled the drawer opening. Still, his first love is wood and the products made from it.

*This article appeared in Dollhouse Miniatures Magazine in June 2000. It was written in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Bodo Hennig PuppenmØbel Company. At the end of 2002 the aging Bodo Hennig sold his company and we anticipate the new owners will continue to produce the extremely high quality doll house furniture and accessories that the Bodo Hennig name exemplifies. 

This is The Bodo Hennig Story
Click below for different rooms of furniture and accessories!

Stube (Kitchen) Furniture and Accessories (3 pages)

 Bedroom Furniture and Accessories

 Book: How-To Paint Doll Haus and Furniture 

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