Collection of theatre models from the German Theatre Museum

There has been evidence of models since the Klara Ziegler Foundation was established. Through the development and construction of reconstruction models as well as the collection of contemporary stage design models, the foundation has pursued the communication of theatre historical development from its beginnings in antiquity to the present day on a scientific and museum level. 

Ancient theatre and historical models

Today, the German Theatre Museum owns a large collection of reconstruction models of Greek antiquity. A few stage scenes composed of coloured sets of mounted copperplate engravings, which were conceived and distributed as so-called peep-box sheets (and not as stage design models), date from the 18th century. The oldest actual stage design models kept in the DTM date from the second half of the 19th century. They came to the Deutsches Theatermuseum via the estates of the Quaglio family of stage designers and the brothers Max and Gotthold Brückner. They date from between the 1860s and the 1890s. However, they were not installed until after the Second World War.

20th century

While only a very limited number of models from the first half of the 20th century have survived from the former additions due to the war, the Deutsches Theatermuseum owns large groups of models from the second half of the 20th century by Hans-Ulrich Schmückle, Jürgen Rose, Anna Viebrock and Stephan Mayer, in addition to numerous models by individual artists. 

The two different types of model are objects that were produced or built for completely different purposes: Firstly, there are stage design models and model parts that were made for workshop use, i.e. for previews and demonstrations on a small scale (usually 1:30 or 1:50), primarily to enable a better understanding of the 1:1 stage realisation. The model is therefore usually an aid that must be understood as a stage in the planning run-up to a performance and in the actual translation process. Stage and scenery models visualise the possibilities of, for example, the effect of decoration or stage construction elements or lighting. Depending on the period in which the model was made, it conveys information on the type and design of the respective period stage decoration. Starting with pure paper models, model making in the 20th century began to practise a mix of materials (wood, cardboard, textiles, metal), which expanded over time to include plastics of all kinds (Plexiglas, polystyrene).  In the second half of the 19th century, for example, paper models created as watercolour pen and ink drawings still tell of the tasks of stage painting at that time. In its technical execution, it had to meet the quality requirements of, for example, painterly perspective or painted lighting effects. If in these models or model parts, for example, a partial or even half-sided drawing or structural execution is to be found, this also refers to the workshop character: the executed parts are then to be understood as exemplary areas compared to the unworked model parts, which were to be doubled, mirrored or conceived and executed as a colour template covering the entire surface. Models supplemented by maquettes or miniature figures, on the other hand, present not only the decorative stage set but also entire scenic moments and help to discuss not only aesthetic issues but also questions about entrances and exits and scenic processes.

Exceptionally elaborate models not only indicate the professional craftsmanship of the model maker, but the use of high-quality materials as miniature stages also clearly points to representative purposes that are completely detached from workshop use. 

In addition to the shape of the stage, theatre construction models often also document the shape and furnishings of the auditorium. Model cross-sections or longitudinal sections provide an insight into the spatial structure. However, bird's eye views of buildings designed from the outside are also available in a wide variety of materials (plaster, cardboard and even precious woods). In addition to such pure foam models, models showing theatrical apparatus and their functions can even demonstrate moving processes.

As the model maker is usually the executive assistant or the executive studio, the maker of a model does not always correspond by name to the originator of the model idea. However, without deliberately ignoring the model maker, the reference to the production suggests that the model can be attributed to the set designer in question. In addition to historical lying model parts and complete stage set models in basic constructions, the collection also includes some reconstruction models and model replicas made much later for didactic purposes.