German Art Archive


The German Art Archive is the world's largest collection of 'Nachlasse' or literary estates on art and culture in the German-speaking lands from the late 19th century to the present day. It was established in 1964 as part of the German National Museum in Nuremberg and was renamed to its present name in 2008. It has been headed by archivists such as Ludwig Veit, Irmtraud von Andrian-Werburg, Birgit Jooss and Roland Prügel, Susanna Brogi.
The estates were donated before death or bequeathed and the archive also houses associated documents. The archive has over 1,400 holdings and approximately 3.2 kilometres of shelving. It focusses on personal documents, correspondence and records but also houses sketchbooks, photographs and audiovisual material. It covers architecture, sculpture, painting, design, photography, art history, the art market, applied arts, visual studies and art restoration.
The DKA collects and preserves personal papers and legacies and produces and publishes scholarly catalogues. At the interface between art production, scholarship, and the art-loving public, it makes its holdings available to all interested parties in its study room, while respecting current copyright. It answers enquiries, provides papers and other items for exhibitions, and organises conferences, seminars and workshops. Through teaching, lectures, guided tours, exhibitions, editorial projects, catalogues raisonnés and biographies, the DKA keeps in close contact with other archives, museums, universities, researchers and art historians.

Collections

It houses the literary estates of Lovis Corinth, Otto Dix, Johannes Grützke, Olaf Gulbransson, Hannah Höch, Käthe Kruse, Franz Marc, Gerhard Marcks, Gabriel von Max, Stefan Moses, Anna Muthesius, Ernst Wilhelm Nay, Richard Riemerschmid, Elisabeth Treskow, Werner Tübke, Ursula Schultze-Bluhm and Sarah Schumann.

In-person exhibitions

Selected exhibitions