from
Uwe Ritzer, Nuremberg
The fact that toys can be quite expensive is not a recent phenomenon. His son and heir to the throne was not yet in sight when Louis XIV, the absolutist ruler of France nicknamed “Sun King”, ordered something very special for him as a precaution. Nuremberg craftsmen were supposed to build two armies, made up of several hundred foot and cavalry soldiers, each about ten centimeters tall. The figures should be very flexible in order to simulate battles as realistically as possible. The future king should learn the craft of war effortlessly, according to Ludwig’s plan. The Nuremberg masters Gottfried Hautsch and Johann Jakob Wolrab, circle blacksmith one, goldsmith the other, took on the job. After four years the miniature army was ready. “It cost a huge fortune,” says Helmut Schwarz, a doctor of history and long-time director of the Nuremberg Toy Museum.