Swiss puppet museum. This small museum (100 square metres) was established in Fribourg in 1985 by Jean Bindschedler and Marie-Jo Aeby. A large number of puppets, acquired during their many trips across Europe, Asia and Africa, form the basis of the Fribourg collection. There are old and contemporary string puppets, rod puppets and glove puppets, rod marionettes (French: tringles), shadow puppets, and mixed varieties. The collection boasts ancient and modern shadow puppets from China, India, Indonesia, Greece… along with theatre and dance masks. The collection grew over the years with the addition of puppets created by Jean Bindschedler and puppets donated by several historical Swiss puppet companies, such as those made by Erich Weiss from Winterthur, Else Hausin from Berne and Jakob Flach of Ascona.

The two hundred and fifty pieces displayed in some forty cabinets come from across the globe: Switzerland, France, Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Germany, the Czech Republic, Japan, Thailand, several countries in Africa …. The Museum also exhibits old and new puppet stages (castelets and booths), old toy theatres (paper theatres) from various European countries, and a collection of stage sets and accessories. It also boasts a hall reserved for puppet performances. Since 1989, the museum and the theatre are managed by Bindschendler Foundation for the promotion of puppetry. In addition, the Museum has a video library of videoed stage performances and teaching materials, and also a specialized library that harbours several hundred works dedicated to the art of puppetry. All these are available to visitors and researchers.

(See Switzerland.)