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Last updated 25/3/2024

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This page is being used to collect information about the history of paperfolding in Austria after the death of Froebel in 1852. Please contact me if you know any of this information is incorrect or if you have any other information that should be added. Thank you.

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1923

'Falten und Formen mit Papier' by Richard Rothe, 1923

Richard Rothe was Viennese. He was an art educationalist whose ideas were influential across Europe. The book begins with the statement 'Primary school has neither time nor space for the types of paperfolding that are mostly practised in the kindergarten, where it involves the creation of more or less developed imaginative shapes and which mainly serves to simply promote hand dexterity. Just like any manual work, folding is only justified in the classroom if it is able to impart intellectual knowledge to the student in addition to manual dexterity. Everything else can be reserved as an attractive pastime for domestic entertainment ...'

Much of the book is devoted to explaining how to cut quite complex designs from simple folded shapes but it also includes diagrams for some paperfolding designs. These include the Teapot Stand and some human figures (see below) both of which the author says originate from a school in Tokyo. I do not know what connection the author had to this school.

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