German puppetry institute. In 1950, the Deutsches Institut für Puppenspiel was created by the Deutschen Bund für Puppenspiel (German Federation for Puppetry) and the Berufsverband Deutscher Puppenspieler (Federation of Professional German Puppeteers/Professional Association of German Puppeteers) for the purpose of training, research and promotion in the field of puppetry arts. The theatre specialist Fritz Wortelmann (1902-1976) was one of the initiators of the project and directed the institute for many years.

The DIP offered seminars and published a magazine, Der Puppenspieler (The Puppeteer), which later became Figurentheater (Figure Theatre). In 1958, the institute began to publish a monograph series, Meister des Puppenspiels (Masters of Puppetry) and launched the international festival of the same name, which was renamed in 1972 Figurentheater der Nationen (Figure Theatre of Nations). Among teachers at the institute were Fritz Herbert Bross, Dieter Kieselstein, and Oskar Paul.

From the training courses of the institute arose the Figurentheater-Kolleg Bochum (Figure Theatre College, Bochum), which was approved as an organization of continuing education shortly after the appointment of Dr Jürgen Klünder to head the institute in 1976. During his leadership until 1991, he vigorously promoted figure theatre in the general public, published the series Puppenspielkundliche Quellen und Forschungen (Sources and Research on the Puppet Theatre) and found a variety of ways to foster broad support for puppetry arts.

The DIP ceased operations in 1991 and was replaced in 1992 by the Deutsches Forum für Figurentheater und Puppenspielkunst e.V. (dfp) (German Forum for Figure Theatre and Puppetry).

(See Germany.)