Kathe Kruse and Corolle dolls

I am not a huge fan of baby dolls. I have two that are very dear to my heart. Katie is a Berenguer doll who was my constant companion as a child. Brenna is a Corolle doll that I bought in 1995.

However, I have wanted for some time to add a German doll to my collection. I lived in Germany for some time and it seemed like an important gap in my collection to me.

Kathe Kruse is a famous maker of dolls in Germany. When I looked at the Kathe Kruse website, I particularly loved the Minouche dolls- but I talked myself out of it for the time being. Fast forward about three years later, and Kathe Kruse dolls were on sale on myhabit.com. I finally ordered one.

I am going to say that I am not a fan of the Kathe Kruse dolls that have fabric tubes for arms instead of plastic arms with hands on the end. It just looks odd to me, probably because I did not grow up with these dolls.

Here she is in the box. I have to show pictures of the whole box, because I love that the German is included, even for the American market.

The face is hand painted.

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This booklet was attached to her wrist. It tells the story of the Kathe Kruse company. As advertising, I prefer this to a booklet full of other dolls, which I was expecting, to tell you the truth.

Here she is out of the box. It was easy to open the box, and she was only held in by ribbons, which could be untied. No scissors necessary.

I thought she would be full of beans, like the Corolle doll, but she is full of stuffing. She sits up very well. 

I think I'm going to call her Inge.

The stamp on the back of her neck.

Nude.

Together with Brenna, the Corolle doll. The Kathe Kruse doll is a bit smaller. I like her outfit much more. It looks just like something a German baby would wear, and it does a good job of not being too pink. I love the bonnet, and the little pink shoes.

 The collar on the Corolle doll's onesie is a bit too clownish for me, and I like clowns. Just not on baby clothing. I have been considering trying to sew her something new. It's tricky to figure out her size because her body is so floppy.

Lying next to each other.

Both the Corolle doll and the Kathe Kruse dolls are very high quality. They both have good points that are very different from one another. 

The Corolle doll had inset eyes, which I usually prefer. The Kathe Kruse doll's hand painted face, however, is adorable.  I have a friend who hates dolls that have visible teeth, so the Kathe Kruse doll would win points with her for that. The Kathe Kruse doll also has a head that doesn't flop around like the Corolle doll does, and she sits up better. It's easier to pose the arms on the Corolle doll- the Kathe Kruse doll's arms tend to stick out from her body.

Both dolls are wonderful and would make any kid or doll collector happy. Corolle dolls, however, are much easier to find in the U.S.