I’ve always loved this photograph I took inside the Brintrup Hertling Toy Museum in Puerto Varas. It was a sunny autumn morning, and the light fell just right across the wooden toys lined up along the wall, making their colours pop.
During the pandemic, I visited again and met Magali Brintrup Hertling, daughter of Alejandro Brintrup and Giaconda Hertling, the original creators of those brightly coloured, smiley toys.
Magali spent the best part of the morning telling me about her childhood above the workshop, when it was still a bustling business delighting the region’s children in the 1950s and 1960s. Through her stories, a picture emerged of her parents at work and of the wooden toys that found their way into homes across the region.
There was no bitterness in her voice when she spoke of electronic toys taking their place in the 1980s and 90s, eventually leading to the workshop’s closure. It had stood silent for many years after her parents died, before opening its doors again as a museum that drew tourists and locals alike.
In 2026, the property was sold and the museum dismantled. A new architectural project is now being developed on the site.
Rediscovering this photograph made me want to share a small part of a history that seems very dear to local hearts. I’m glad I got to know the place, even at the end of its journey. Looking at it now, I realise the photo has become something I never intended it to be: a record.