Kammer Reinhardt Dolls

The Kämmer & Reinhardt doll factory was founded in 1886 by Ernst Kämmer and Franz Reinhardt in Waltershausen, Thuringia, Germany. Their first dolls were made of wax. They soon began to design bisque doll heads, but could not produce them, as they did not own their own porcelain factory. Instead, they contracted to manufacture their bisque doll heads with the Simon & Halbig Company. Most Kämmer & Reinhardt dolls manufactured prior to 1902 have the Kämmer & Reinhardt mark and the Simon & Halbig mark.

In 1902, Kämmer & Reinhardt purchased the Heinrich Handwerck doll company. They primarily produced dolly-faced bisque dolls until 1909. These dolls had glass eyes, painted facial features, and open mouths with teeth. Doll bodies were composition with ball joints. After 1909, the company branched out into other doll types and materials, including celluloid and composition heads and wired cloth bodies.

Kämmer & Reinhardt became famous for its character baby and child dolls with expressive faces. Baby dolls had bent limbs posed to look like a baby. Kämmer & Reinhardt eventually acquired the Simon & Halbig company in 1920. Kämmer & Reinhardt manufactured dolls until 1932.

Quick Facts

• The Kämmer & Reinhardt mark is a K&R with the & placed inside a Star of David. This mark often appears along with the mark of the doll company who actually manufactured the bisque doll head, most often Simon & Halbig
• The Kämmer & Reinhardt factory still stands in Germany today. The slogan over the door translates to "For children, only the best is good enough"
• In 2015, a Kämmer & Reinhardt boy doll named Model 104 sold at auction in California for $212,800. This is the highest price paid for a German character doll to date and the third-highest price ever paid for a doll