Kammer and Reinhardt dolls have an interesting history covering a few decades around the turn into the 20th century. Ernst Kammer and Franz Reinhardt began the company in 1886 with a doll factory in Waltershausen, Germany.
Marks found on Kammer & Reinhardt Dolls
Many doll heads manufacturered by Kammer & Reinhardt have different incised marks. Most easily recognized are the initials K & R with a six pointed star between the letters. They worked with Simon & Halbig so some doll heads have both the K R mark with the Simon & Halbig mark. Some of the KR doll heads will only have the name Simon & Halbig. A doll head marked 192 may have not letters or words. The doll head with the number 126 may also include the French word “Bebe” and the 119 may have the English word “Baby.”
Unbreakable Dolls
In 1887 Kämmer & Reinhardt advertised unbreakable (incassables) dolls in the Leuch’s Addressbook. The listing read, “Incassables made of wood, cardboard, papier-maché, with porcelain and patent heads.” They also advertised patented washable doll heads.
1891 Phonograph / Grammaphone Invention
Their history is not solely related to manufacturing dolls. Kammer & Reinhardt of Walterhausen marketed toy grammaphones. In 1891 someone wrote that the device reproduced human speech better that it did music. Kämmer & Reinhardt were referred to in French as “la maison Kammer, Reinhardt et Cie.” See the grammaphone here.
During this time German publications listed them as “Kämmer, Reinhardt & Co.“
Chicago 1893
In Germany’s official catalogue for the 1893 fair held in Chicago, the company “Waltershausen in Thuringia Toy manufactory. Specialty: Fine jointed dolls, bric-a-brac (deers, horses, &c.).”
1902 Purchase of Heinrich Handwerck Doll Factory
After the death of Heinrich Handwerck in 1902, Kammer & Reinhardt purchased his doll factory. They continued to use the Heinrich Handwerck name for those dolls.
1903 US Patent Registered
In 1903 Franz Reinhardt registered a patent for a walking doll. The patent registered officially on September 8, 1903 related to a doll, puppet, or the like which can have its legs adjusted in upright, oblique, or sitting position. The mechanism would cause the head to move from side to side while walking. Franz Reinhardt identified himself in the introduction as a subject of the Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, residing at Waltershausen, Germany. The patent number 738,628 or document number US-0738628-A can be viewed at the USPTO website.
1909 Textile Chemistry Patent
In 1909 they worked with someone named Zierow to patent a method of processing plastic related to the textile chemistry. One can read the description of the process in Patents for Inventions. Abridgments of Specifications from 1909 easily viewed at the Hathi Trust here.
(Theory and continuing question: Is this related to a varnish developed to use on their celluloid dolls.)
1911 Events for Kammer & Reinhardt
Kammer & Reinhardt registered their six pointed star trademark in the U.S. December 8, 1911, claiming they had used it since 1898. The trademark registration listing read, “Ser. No. 60,126. (CLASS 22. GAMES, TOYS, AND SPORT- ING GOODS.) Kammer & Reinhardt;, Waltershausen, Germany. Filed Dec. 8, 1911. K.XR. Particular description of goods.-Dolls and Doll Heads, Arms, Legs, and Bodies. Claims use since Nov. 28, 1898.” (1912. Official gazette of the United States Patent Office v.185)
They also registered another doll head mold in 1911 for three years.
In 1911 they celebrated their 25th anniversary of doing business.
Marion Kaulitz Conflict
Marion Kaulitz Dolls at Exhibitions in 1908 and 1911
A doll artist, Marion Kaulitz, showed her dolls at the Munich Trade Exhibition in the summer of 1908. Kaulitz dolls had natural childlike faces, simple hairstyles such as braids over the head, and painted eyes. After getting more models of her dolls made she presented them to different doll companies, including Kammer & Reinhardt. Supposedly K&R had shown interest in her dolls during the summer exhibition.
Kaulitz dolls won awards at the World Exhibition in Brussels and exhibition in the Hague in Holland in 1910.
Marion Kaulitz’ Accusation
In 1911 Marion Kaulitz accused Kammer & Reinhardt of imitating her dolls without giving her credit. The accusation appeared as a reply in a German newspaper in an article entitled “Zur Puppenreform.”
Marion claimed to have left models of her dolls with Kammer & Reinhardt for a period of two weeks. During that 14 days Kaulitz promised not to present them to another company during that time. At the end of the two weeks Kammer & Reinhardt decided not to buy her dolls. Sadly, according to Marion Kaulitz, Kammer & Reinhardt proceeded to imitate the artistic styles of her doll designs.
She sarcastically makes fun of K&R’s boasting in their 25th jubilee anniversary publications about a new doll design. Kaulitz mocks them for boringly manufacturing the same dolls for years, only to have a new design after seeing hers.
The K&R Dolls in Question
To put this into context, Cieslik’s German Doll Encyclopedia explains that in 1909 Kammer & Reinhardt registered a trademark for Character dolls inspired by the exhibition of art dolls at the Munich Exhibition. During this time the famous KR dolls known as Peter, Marie, Hans, and Gretchen are designed. The Marie doll wears a hairstyle of braids at the ears. Franz Reinhardt modeled the Gretchen doll after his own grandchild, a “real” child. Cieslik includes a two page spread of the faces of the KR character dolls with painted eyes.
If the claims in the article “Zur Puppenreform” are true, Kammer & Reinhardt’s success was due to the artistic work of Marion Kaulitz. One might find images of the very rare Kaulitz dolls and compare them to the painted eye KR characters to see the similarities.
Kathe Kruse
It seems that perhaps with the new ideas of character dolls, Kammer and Reinhardt decide to work with doll artist Kathe Kruse. In 1911 they advertised characters Annie and Walter
1913 Patent Registration
The German magazine that published patent registrations (Sprechsaal für Keramik, Glas, Email, Silikate) listed in 1913 Kammer & Reinhardt‘s for a porcelain doll head #122.
The same year Sprechsaal announced their patent 542 748 for a doll’s head with a plastic tongue that was immovably attached to the inside of the head.
1913 Max and Moritz Kammer and Reinhardt Dolls
In 1913 Kammer & Reinhardt advertised their version of the comic characters Max and Moritz from the book “Max and Moritz: A Story of Naughty Boys in Seven Pranks” by Wilhelm Busch. The two dolls have painted eyes and the numbers 123 and 124 incised on the back of the heads.
1915 Eye Movement Patent
Kammer & Reinhardt have a patent registered in 1915 for a unique eye mechanism movement. The description says (translated) “A pendulum weight used to adjust the eyeballs is slidably connected to the eyeballs or the eyeball bridge in such a way that changing the center of gravity of the pendulum weight relative to the axis of rotation of the eye can cause a displacement of the position of the eye image in relation to the eye openings.”
1922 Trademark & Patent Registered with the United States
Heinrich Handwerck Trademark Registration
On May 11, 1922 the company registered a trademark with the United States Patent office. The trademark image shows a shield bearing the name of Heinrich Handwerck. They claimed they had used the trademark since 1902 (the same year they purchased the Heinrich Handwerck doll factory). The listing describs their goods as “toys and playthings, namely dolls, doll heads, doll bodies, doll members, doll clothes, and doll hair dress and wigs.” One can view this trademark recorded in the Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office at the Hathi Trust site here.
Kammer and Reinhardt Sleeping Doll Patent Registration
On March 29, 1916 Franz Reinhardt representing Kammer & Reinhardt applied for a patent registration in the United States for a sleeping doll eye mechanism. The patent was not official in the U.S. until six years later on April 11, 1922. The Title of the patent reads, “Franz Reinhardt, of Waltershausen, Germany, Assignor to firm Kammer & Reinhardt A.G., of Waltershausen, Germany.” At the USPTO website look for patent number 1,412,670 or document US-1412670-A.
The reason for the six year delay is not known, but may be related to WWI and / or extensions filed. The problem supposedly was corrected in the US legislation known as the Nolan Act from March 3, 1921 (ch. 126, § 1, 41 Stat. 1313). This information is also listed on the Reinhardt introductory information.
1929 Doll Head Registered in Paris
Kammer & Reinhardt have a doll head registered in Paris in 1929.
Modern Day Kammer & Reinhardt Trademark Imitation
A more modern company in Germany formed back in the 1980s called Kammer & Reinhardt GmbH. They listed their industry as dolls and stuffed toys, automotive parts, and plastic with Werner Hofner as key principal.
In 1985 this interesting company registered a trademark (canceled in 2020) with the US Patent Office just like found on the K&R antique dolls. The US Patent Office lists the registrant as “KAMMER & REINHARDT PUPPENHERSTELLUNGS GMBH CORPORATION FED REP GERMANY EISFELDER STRASSE 71 NEUSTADT FED REP GERMANY D-8632.” You can view this interesting copy at the US Patent and Trademark website.
See more about other German antique dolls here.