Literature Archives
Letters and cards from Franz Kafka to Paul Kisch, 1902/1903
Heinrich Mann, Manuscript pages from his Zola essay
Quill belonging to Günter Grass
Letters and cards from Rainer Maria Rilke to Carl Hauptmann
Original card file index from the Schriftstellerverband der DDR (East German association of writers)
Archive folder in the Ingeborg Drewitz Archive
Manuscripts and pictures in Johannes Schenk’s steamer trunk
The Literature Archives at the Akademie der Künste grew from the acquisition of two literary estates, that of Heinrich Mann by the East Berlin Akademie der Künste in 1950, and of Georg Kaiser by the West Berlin Akademie der Künste in 1956. Today, these literary and artistic archives comprise 320 individual collections, forming one of the largest resources on German literature from the start of Imperial Germany to the present day.
The manuscripts, letters and documents held here by and on leading figures in literature, culture and criticism, journalism and literary theory, provide a rich source of materials for literary and cultural historical research. These collections are supplemented by holdings of files from writers’ associations, institutions, publishers, editorial departments and thematic collections.