Inside, cities burn. Soldiers plunder food and furniture. Shadowy figures wave, helpless, from windows in the distance.
Details from Plundering of Hubertusburg Castle in the Spring of 1761 (Bernd Baumbach, 2001). All photographs taken by Brianna Beehler.
These figures may appear strange. This is partly because they are miniatures, with an average height of 30mm, and partly because they are relatively flat, measuring only a millimeter or two in thickness. They are examples of zinnfiguren, or “tin figures,” which were widely produced in 18th- and 19th-century Germany and then exported abroad. Initially conceived as children’s toys, in the 20th century they became collectibles for adults, who would arrange them into large, meticulous dioramas based on historical events, sometimes containing hundreds or even thousands of figures.
Section of The Battle at Kolin on June 18, 1757, during the Seven Years’ War (Zinnfigurenfreunde Leipzig, 2006–7, figurines from the collection of Heinz Müller+, Halle, and supplements).
Detail from The “Minor War” (Bernd Baumbach, 1996).
My work on nineteenth-century toy culture led me to spend several weeks this summer traveling across Germany in search of zinnfiguren collections. Each collection is unique, not least because they all tend to include dioramas that focus on local historical battles and events. These photographs are from the Torhaus Dölitz in Leipzig, where I began my research trip.
Detail from The Battle at Hohenfriedberg (Striegau) on June 4th, 1745, during the Second Silesian War (Heinz Reh+, Penig, before 1968; restored by Zinnfigurenfreunde Leipzig).
While the dioramas do not exclusively depict battles, they do overwhelmingly recreate scenes of great violence, or the moments directly preceding or following brutal conflict.
Even in miniature—perhaps, indeed, because of it—the terrible scale of past wars is devastating. Tiny figures locked in endless battles. Looking down from a bird’s-eye view gives the impression of distance from these past events as well as a sense of immersion in their vast, unfolding presence.
Detail from The “Minor War” (Bernd Baumbach, 1996).
Detail from Napoleon and His Staff at Quandt’s Tobacco Mill, October 18, 1813 (Karl Stemmler, 1965).
Outside the Torhaus Dölitz, the dirt roads are shaded and empty, and horses graze.
