Watch NZH Local Focus: Amazing marionettes at Waikato Museum

Puppeteer Norbert Hausberg has spent forty years perfecting his art - based on marionettes he carves himself from a block of wood.

"They're simple characters and they can only do a certain amount of movements and it's up to you as a performer to actually make them come alive."

For Mr Hausberg - puppeteering is what he does.

"It's just part of my whole physical body, my mental body is being a puppeteer."

Over the years he's created more than a hundred individual characters, with a different voice for each one.

"Essentially you breathe life into something that is dead material, something that is not animated, you animate and create the illusion of life."

It's an illusion he works hard to maintain.

Mr Hausberg was in Hamilton over the weekend for his show Rumpelstiltskin - which he says is "like a really well-worn shoe that I can play around with."

Looking to the future Mr Hausberg says he will be bringing Beauty and the Beast to the stage and may look at touring overseas.

Norbert Hausberg's collection of string puppets is on display at the Waikato Museum until the end of January.