A grassy knoll was chosen. An arched bridge of two feet was erected under which real water was made to flow. On one side of the bridge were piled tiny logs and trees behind which were the seven Chasseurs eight inches high dressed in the old red and blue French uniform, little caps on their heads, wooden guns in their hands. Twenty Germans in real field-grey were attempting to charge. Some were dead, others falling, three running away, all with scared expressions carved upon their little wooden faces. The verses were nailed up near by: “There were seven Chasseurs of Domèvre Who were so exceedingly brave When the Germans attacked They got thoroughly whacked, ‘Voila!’ said the men of Domèvre.” _Puppet Shows of Germany and of Other Continental Countries_ Perhaps it was the luxuriant forests of Germany offering abundant material and opportunity which encouraged the native aptitude, at any rate the inhabitants of the land have at all times been noted for their skill in wood carving. Moreover they appear to take a certain delight in mechanical devices. From very early times these interests were applied to the making of mechanical toys and dramatic puppets. In the dark ages we find the people of the country carving a grotesque sort of wooden doll, called _Kobold_ or _Tattermann_ which they set up in the chimney and worshipped as a heathen household deity. Later these little figures came to be worked by wires. As far back as the twelfth century and according to Charles Magnin even in the tenth century, the word _Tocha_ or _Docha_ was used to signify a kind of puppet. One of the earliest Minnesingers mentions _Tokkenspil_ in his poem and another speaks of the _Jongleuren_ attracting their audiences by displaying little dolls which they pulled out at any time from under their mantles. The subject of the early Tokkenspiel seems to have been gathered chiefly from the legends of the _Edda_, and from the _Hildebrandslied_ and the _Niebelungenlied_. Praetorius mentions: “Foolish jugglers’ tents where old Hildebrand and such _Possen_ are played with _Dokken_, called puppet comedies.” Later the mystery play appeared and the automatic _Kruppenspiel_, religious drama here as elsewhere opening up a path for the profane. These plays were founded upon such themes as, _The Fall of Adam and Eve_, _Goliath and David_, _Judith and Holofernes_, _King Herod_ or _The Siege of Jerusalem_. Of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries we have little positive data. Romantic subjects appear to have been used for the puppets, also history and fable such as _The Four Sons of Aymon_, _Genevieve of Brabante_, _The Lady of Roussillon_, and even _Joan of Arc_ which was quoted in another piece performed in 1430.