Library and Archive

Büchsterstapel im Lesesaal der Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz, 2021, Foto: Diana Morgenroth

The art-history reference library, consisting of well in excess of 100,000 volumes, forms – along with the archive – the Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz’s Documentation and Information Centre.

The library’s holdings focus on publications on 19th- and 20th-century German art, primarily Dresden Romanticism, outdoor painting, and Symbolism, as well as Impressionism and Expressionism, in particular Karl Schmidt-Rottluff and the »Brücke« artists’ group. The library also possesses extensive valuable art-history works related to the textile industry, textile art, and poster history, with a focus on Art Nouveau and the 1920s. Moreover, the library has an extensive collection of postcards, printed invitations, and leaflets on national and international artists and art exhibitions.

The library’s collection is being continuously expanded through valuable donations, bequests, and the exchange of literature with art institutions in Germany and abroad.

The document archive comprises archival records of the Kunsthütte zu Chemnitz (since 1860) and the Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz (since 1906). The autograph collection (since 1901) comprises some 3,000 letters and postcards from artists such as Ernst Barlach, Max Beckmann, Erich Heckel, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Paul Klee, Max Klinger, Oskar Kokoschka, Georg Kolbe, Käthe Kollwitz, Wilhelm Lehmbruck, Otto Muller, Edvard Munch, Emil Nolde, Max Pechstein, Gustav Schaffer, Richard Scheibe, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, Martha Schrag, and Max Slevogt.

Since 1909, the photo archive has harboured photographs, glass plates, clichés-verre, negatives, standard slides, small-format slides, and digital prints largely relating to the holdings of the Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz.

The press archive has collected articles published in the press since 1911 on all exhibition activities of the Kunsthütte zu Chemnitz and the Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz, as well as articles on regional art and important topics in art history.

Interested persons can make appointments to review the library and archive holdings in the reading room. Appointments can be made at bibliothek.kunstsammlungen@stadt-chemnitz.de or archiv.kunstsammlungen@stadt-chemnitz.de or at +49 (0)371 488 4468 (library) or +49 (0)371 488 4407 (archive).