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Bed and Breakfast In Home
of Alpine Doll Maker
© 2004 Bonita Productions Inc.
E-zine of Travel Adventures
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Bed and Breakfast In Home
of Alpine Doll Maker
By Bonnie Neely
Photos by Bill Neely
Have you ever felt as if you were suddenly in the wonderland of your favorite childhood storybook? That was my experience when we entered the delightful Bed & Breakfast “Brucknerbaur” , which is the home of Frau Marianne Kembichler and her husband in the edge of Bad Reichenhall, Germany, and just up into the beginning of the Alps. The typical Bavarian home is of white stucco with dark timbers. It's picturesque setting is a lush green hillside with perky red geraniums greeting us from grounds and window boxes, and the deep green forested peaks so close I imagined I heard yodeled echoes. We were thrilled with the inviting house, which Herr Kembichler's forefathers had built over 300 years ago. 
The jolly, plump little lady with a big smile, beautiful rosy cheeks and soft complexion, greeted us warmly and ushered us into her lovely home with low double-arched vaulted ceilings and half-meter thick plaster walls, painted brilliant white and trimmed everywhere with dark brown wood. We could rent a lovely little furnished apartment in their upstairs. The hosts share with their guests the beautiful sitting room, which has a great mountain view and a big fireplace, where we could watch TV, play cards, or just visit. A cat is allowed in the sitting room but never in the rental apartment, which is 39 Euro a night with full, private kitchen facilities and bathroom. Everything in the home was spotless. Marianne Kembichler is a very talented hobbyist with extremely artistic creativity and magic hands. She has tried many different crafting adventures through the years. Her home is filled with treasures she has made, and she graciously encouraged us to look at everything. She also collects of unusual items, which make her home so fascinating: many religious funeral icons; small taxidermy-mounted, woodland animals; festival hats; handmade beaded flowers; and antiques.
But her favorite pastime is to make dolls, even though she never played with dolls as a child. Three decades ago she discovered this art-form and delights in doing it for her own pleasure, and she has been coaxed into selling about 100 of her creations through the years. She proudly led us to the third floor where she has created her own doll museum in a bright, sunny room overlooking the Alps . We were greeted by over a hundred and thirty smiling faces she had made, looking at us from all around the room, like eager school children happy to be observed in their play. I felt I had entered the storybook Just Like Me, which I read over and over as a child. The book was about a little girl who had a surprise doll who was made to look just like the child.
Marianne creates each of the porcelain heads, arms and legs, by pouring the porcelain slip into a selected mold. After the first kiln firing, she hand paints the features, and each piece must be kiln-fired two more times. Each little face and personality is different. After trying her hand at wig-making and painting the eyes, Frau Kembichle decided to select pre-made wigs and glass eyes for the most natural look for the dolls. She sewed her earliest dolls entirely of fabric, in a rag doll style, but she has long since discarded them for these more realistic and perfect-looking creations.
She carefully designs the fashions for each doll, some of which she makes from new fabrics, and some she creates from antique clothing she finds in junk stores. Each of her “children” is dressed differently to suit his or her personality, and the clothing has wonderful detail from tiny buttons to handmade lace, hand-knit stockings and stylish shoes, hats, purses, and jewelry. What a charming collection and wonderful display!
On Friday afternoons she invites interested doll-lovers to join her to visit her dolls. Her own daughter sometimes makes dolls with her, but her grand children, now approaching twenty, have never been interested in dolls. We hope some museum will inherit these works of art to display in perpetuity.
The great doll stage Marianne has created all around the walls of of the museum is enhanced with her collection of antique toys and miniature dollhouse items. Each little “person” is in a unique setting: a group of “friends” at school, or sledding, or having tea, or going for a stroll, ready for bed, etc. I wanted to stop and chat with each little group!
After we saw the beautiful masterpieces she made coffee for us and invited us to sit at her cozy breakfast table in her glassed winter garden room, which opened onto the rose garden just bursting with red blooms framed with a background of the beautiful mountain peaks. With the sliding glass door open, we enjoyed the absolutely fabulous cheesecake which she had made for us, light as a cloud, Although Marianne spoke no English and we no German, we were entertained by a perky little brown chicken with a crimson crown who wandered in and made herself comfortable on the Persian rug at our feet! What a wonderful visit with our hostess, and even though we could not speak the same language, no translation was necessary to enjoy this thrilling feeling of deep friendship. Such an amazing and non-touristy experience only leaves us helpless to repay!
Real Travel Adventures International Magazine
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