FAQ

No, the Archives use is free of charge. We only charge for special services such as preparing reproductions of the materials. Our price list  for these services is available on our website.

No, you do not need a confirmation from a university or similar. The holdings are also open to the public for private research.

The Archives of the Akademie der Künste have several Reading Rooms, e.g., Main Reading Room, Reading Room Pariser Platz, Bertolt Brecht Archive Reading Room, Walter Benjamin Archive Reading Room, Art Collection Reading Room. The reader application to view materials is only valid for the Reading Room of the archives where those materials are held. To use other Reading Rooms, you need to apply to each of those Reading Rooms individually. Researching our Archives Database also provides information on where the particular archival materials are held. The contactdetails of the various Reading Rooms and locations are available on our website.

You may take writing pads, notebooks, laptops and similar devices with you into the reading room. To protect the original documents, pencils are the only writing implements permitted.
Coin-return lockers are available for storage. These require a one-euro coin to operate.

Please contact the staff of the Reading Room that applies to you by phone or email and make an appointment. You can then make an appointment with the staff there to reserve a place for you to view the archival material.

To view archival materials in our Reading Rooms please register in our Archives Database. This registration process must be completed before your first visit to one of our Reading Rooms. The process involves printing out and signing your registration application. This can be done on site or you can bring the completed application with you. To register in the reading rooms, please bring your identity card or another form of ID.

No, you can search the Archives Database without registering. Simply click on ‘Recherche’ to access the Archives Database. Please note that the Archives Database language is German.

If you are only planning to search to the Archives Database, there is no need to register. Registration is only required if you are planning to view materials in one of our Reading Rooms. By signing the registration form, you are agreeing to abide by the policies and procedures of the Academy Archives on access to the materials. 
In addition, registering does have certain advantages for researching our Archives Database allowing you, for example, to open an online ‘workbook’ for your research results and view digital attachments.

You need to specify a user name with at least 4 characters and a password with at least 8 characters. 
The registration form comprises two pages. 
You have to enter your personal details on the first page. Our privacy policy explains how we collect, process, store and use such personal data. You also need to read our Access Regulations explaining the use of our Archives and Library. To use our Archives, you have to tick the boxes confirming that you give your informed and active consent to our Access Regulations and Privacy Policy. 
On the second page of your registration, you can then enter your research interests or research topic. In addition to your research topic, you can enter the archives or collections you would like to use, the purpose of your research and the institution where you are conducting your research. 
If you click “add (another) archives group”, you can then enter the name of the archives or collection for your research in the field provided. Clicking on the designated name of the archives or collections includes them in your registration form. All the individual archives or collections you wish to view for your research must be included in your reader application form. 

Reader registration is only for one calendar year. Readers have to renew their registrations before using the Reading Rooms in the new calendar year. Registrations can be renewed by clicking on the link „add another theme”. You then have to print out and sign the new registration form.
If the topic you are working on changes during the year or if you are working on various topics at the same time, you need to register for each topic.
To view materials from an archive or collection not listed in your existing registration, you need to add the new archive or collection to your current registration.

If you have forgotten your password, contact our staff to have your password reset.

To order archival materials you need to complete an order slip provided in the Reading Room. Please note the retrieval times for archival materials at 10 am and 1 pm. There are extended provision times for items requested from the external storage facility (located on Kaiserin-Augusta-Allee).

Before your visit you can pre-order up to 5 call numbers via email at the Reading Room that provides access to the materials you wish to view.
There are extended provision times for items requested from the external storage facility (located on Kaiserin-Augusta-Allee).

An application needs to be submitted to request analogue and digital reproductions of material in the archives. As per our reading room protocols, the number of copies that can be made is typically limited to 100 pages per person per year. Individual exemptions to this rule may be requested. Approval of the application may depend on the consent of the rights holders and the condition of the material in question. You will be contacted by the archivist responsible for the collection.

Producing copies/scan takes an average of 14 days following rights clearance.

Please itemise the materials you would like copied and/or scanned on the relevant request form and submit the list after you have completed your research, no later than half an hour before the reading rooms close.

Yes, it's possible. In this case, you have to complete and sign your reader registration form together with a copy/scan request, and submit both forms by post or email. Please make sure that the application form is completely filled out and signed.

You can register directly in the Archives Database. All other forms are available on our website.

No. Under copyright law and our guidelines on the conservation and preservation of materials, photographing or copying materials in our Reading Rooms by visitors is not permitted.

You can search for materials in the Archives Database. For not yet indexed archives you can search in the finding aid provided in the Reading Room.

To research the holdings in a particular archive, either select the particular archive from the dropdown menu under ‘Archives department’ (Archivabteilung) or click on ‘overview of archives’ (Bestandsübersicht) at the top left, and enter the name of the archive or collection in the field ‘free text search’ (Freitextsuche). The archive or collection you are looking for then appears in the tree view (Bestandsbaum). If you click on the name of the archive or collection in the tree view, the right-hand window displays the individual items with their call numbers. If you click on the small plus sign next to the name of the archive or collection in the tree view, the tree is expanded to show the classifications in the holdings. Here, you can also filter your search by selecting individual categories such as ‘letters’ (please choose German terms). In this case, the right-hand window only displays the items in your selected category. 

To search across the entire database, use the “free-text search” field at top centre of the page.

Our Archives Database also offers detailed information on how to use the search function (click on the small question mark sign). Please note that the Archives Database language is German.

A call number is sequential reference number assigned to particular items in the archives. In our Archives Database, the call numbers comprise the name of the specific archive and a number, e.g. Mann-Heinrich 1 refers to an item in the Heinrich Mann Archive.

Once you have selected the archive or clicked on the name in the tree view, you can enter a title, name or keyword in the search field to look for an item in the archive or collection.

The ‘search within results’ function (innerhalb des Ergebnisses suchen) is set below the free text field and can be activated by ticking the box next to it. For example, if you search first for all the call numbers for a person’s name, you can then click on the filter function to search within the results, i.e. then add ‘Brief*’ (‘letter’) in the text box to limit the search just to letters. The terms must be German to find results in the Archives Database.

Not all the photos and documents in the Akademie der Künste holdings have been digitised. Moreover, the Akademie does not hold the rights to all archived photographs. In these cases, the preview images in our online catalogue are replaced by placeholders.

This could be for one of several reasons:

• The Database is an ongoing project, and does not yet included all our archived materials. A part of our holdings can be only located using conventional finding aids. For more details, contact our staff.
• No online search is possible for certain archival items which are subject to special statutory conditions of use. For more details, contact our staff.
• Try a new search with a new keywords and combinations, or vary names or titles.

No the Library use is free of charge.

You can find out in which Reading Room a Library copy can be viewed by looking at the holdings  display in the electronic library catalogue (OPAC). Media from the Library are  usually made available in the Reading Room at Pariser Platz. Part of the stock is also delivered to the Main Reading Room on request. Library holdings in the Bertolt Brecht Archive, Walter Benjamin Archive or in the Art Collection can generally only be consulted on site. A separate appointment must be made in each of the Reading Rooms. The contactdetails of the various Reading Rooms and locations are available on our website.

You can take your writing pads and laptop with you. Bringing jackets and bags as well as food and drinks is not permitted. Mobile phones are permitted to a limited extent in the Reading Room Pariser Platz. To protect the originals, ballpoint pens, fountain pens, fineliners, etc. are not permitted. Only pencils are permitted for taking notes.

At the Reading Room Pariser Platz no appointment is necessary for library use. For all other locations, please contact the staff of the Reading Room that applies to you by phone or email and make an appointment.

If you wish to consult Library media in our Reading Rooms, we ask you to register in the electronic library catalogue (OPAC). When you firstly visit our Reading Rooms you will also be asked to present some form of photo identification, such as a government-issued photo ID or passport, or an equivalent.

No, registration is not necessary for a search. In the electronic library catalogue (OPAC) the search function is available directly when you call up the catalogue.

If you wish to order media from the Library stock or borrow media for the use at home , you must register in the electronic library catalogue (OPAC). Click on the "Log on" button to go to the self-registration page.

In the electronic library catalogue you can have a new password sent to your email address by clicking on the „Forgot your password?“

With your electronic Library account you can order or reserve media from the Library stock online, view your loan account with the current deadlines for your loans and orders, renew your loans, view your stored data and change your password.

You can order media from the Library stock at any time via the electronic library catalogue (OPAC). To do so, you need a Library account, which you create in the electronic catalogue by self-registration. You can then place up to ten orders.

Please note the retrieval times. These are on opening days at 10 am and at 1 pm. Media requested later will be made available on the following opening day, provided they are not kept in an external storage.

The order process shows which Reading Room you can select for provision. Media located at Robert-Koch-Platz, Bertolt Brecht Archive, Walter Benjamin Archive or Anna Seghers Museum can only be viewed at the locations indicated.

Media from bequest libraries can only be ordered in the Reading Room at Pariser Platz.

If you live in Berlin or Brandenburg, you can borrow media with the status "available for request".

The central research tool for books and other media from the holdings of the Akademie der Künste‘s Library is the electronic library catalogue (OPAC)

In addition, card catalogues not yet included in the electronic library catalogue are available in digitised form (IPAC) for online browsing.

In the Reading Rooms it is also possible to search in licensed databases for the Library of the Akademie der Künste.

By calling up the electronic library catalogue (OPAC) you will be taken directly to the search function.

A "basic search" is possible as well as the (combined) search via selectable fields, such as title, person, keyword, etc. Under "Help" you will find further general search instructions.

A list of the bequest libraries is available on our website. If a collection has already been recorded electronically, it can be accessed via a link directly in the electronic catalogue.

Select the search field „Annotation“. Search with the term "Widmung". To narrow down your search, you can combine names or truncated beginnings of signatures (supplemented by an asterisk).

You can save your search results in „my list“, print them out, download them or have them sent to you by email. You can call up lists saved in the Library account at a later date.

In principle, users are not allowed to copy or scan library media for legal and conservation reasons. However, in the Pariser Platz reading room, users may photograph pages from certain library materials with their mobile phones. To facilitate this, a ScanTent is available free of charge. This cannot be used for some of the books, such as those with handwritten notes or dedications.

An application needs to be submitted to request analogue and digital reproductions. As per our reading room protocols, the number of copies that can be made is typically limited to 100 pages per person per year. Individual exemptions to this rule may be requested. Approval of the application may depend on the consent of the rights holders and the condition of the library material in question. You will be contacted by one of the librarians.

Producing copies/scan takes an average of 14 days following rights clearance.

Please itemise the materials you would like copied and/or scanned on the relevant request form and submit the list after you have completed your research, no later than half an hour before the reading rooms close.

Yes, it's possible. In this case, you have to complete electronic Library account registration and submit a copy/scan request by post or email. Please make sure that the application form is completely filled out and signed.

You can register directly in the electronic library catalogue (OPAC). All other forms are available on our website.

The Akademie der Künste’s database of members is open to the public for research. Here, you can not only find all present members and honorary members, but using the filter function, you can also find past members as well. This allows you, for example, to search just for members of the Music Section from 1933–1945.

A list of the women members of the Prussian Akademie der Künste is available here (PDF).

A list of the Directors and Presidents of the Prussian Akademie der Künste is available here (PDF).

Please note that search and display options of members are in German only.

The Archives of the Prussian Akademie der Künste have been fully digitised. These documents are available as PDF files attached to the individual catalogue data records and can be read online without prior registration. Under the data privacy provisions, certain archival materials can only be viewed online in the reading room. Please note: The sheet numbers in the “includes” component of the file title always refer to the numbering in the document and not to the page numbering in the PDF files

You can find a list of the teachers at the Akademie der Künste from 1750–1875 here (PDF).

The Prussian Akademie der Künste did not keep matriculation registers for its students. Nonetheless, information about its students can be found in various documents. First and foremost, the case files contain details on young actors and students receiving a prize or award. There are, in addition, around 30 files with many lists of students from 1751 – 1875. An indexing project recording the names of students in a database already comprises over 45,000 names. The database is available in the reading room of the archives on Robert-Koch-Platz.

In 1875, the Prussian Akademie der Künste was granted a new provisional charter. The statutes, ratified and passed into law in 1882, aimed at modernising the training of artists to meet professional standards. The existing School for the Fine Arts and the School for Music became independent institutions within the newly founded Royal Academy. In addition, the studios for master classes were reorganised. In 1930, the Schools of Fine Art and of Music were hived off from the Akademie to create two separate teaching institutions. In 1975, they then merged to create the new university of the Hochschule der Künste, the present-day University of the Arts Berlin (UdK). As a result, the records on the students and teachers from 1875 are kept in the UdK Archives. For enquiries, contact archiv@udk-berlin.de

The following matriculation registers have survived for master classes in art and music for the years 1875–1945:
PrAdK 1402 
PrAdK 1403 
PrAdK 1404
PrAdK 1405 
PrAdK 1406

The catalogue with an index of artists covering 1786 – 1850 is available in a printed form (Helmut Börsch-Supan: Die Kataloge der Berliner akademischen Ausstellungen 1786 bis 1850, Berlin 1971). An index of the names of exhibiting artists from 1828 – 1894 can be found in PrAdK 1442. Other catalogues can be researched through the library’s online public access catalogue (OPAC). Copies are available in the reference books in the Archives Reading Room at the Robert-Koch-Platz location.

The oldest minutes of the meetings dates from 1787, and there is a continuous record of the proceedings from 1803. These provide an insight into the discussions and decisions in the Senate on all aspects of the Akademie’s affairs from the appointment of new members, teachers and young actors, awards for students, expert reports and awarding the title of ‘Akademischer Künstler’, as well as acquisitions and donations to the art collection and library. The complete series of the proceedings from 1786 can be found in the Secret State Archives Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation (Geheimes Staatsarchiv Preußischer Kulturbesitz zu Berlin). As part of the Akademie der Künste’s ‘Berliner Klassik’ project at the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Reimar Lacher has compiled Regesta (registry volumes) for the proceedings from 1786–1815.

As the result of a fire in 1743, the holdings in today’s Archives have very few eighteenth-century documents. The Archives also suffered major losses during the Second World War. A reconstruction using the records schedule showed 671 files as missing. The missing files are primarily from the period 1880–1945 (see: Kriegsverluste der Preußischen Akademie der Künste (PDF), compiled by Ingrid Häberle, Gudrun Schmidt and Gudrun Schneider, Archiv-Blätter 12, Akademie der Künste 2005).

Brecht’s bequest library (Nachlassbibliothek) is kept in his last apartment, now the Brecht-Weigel Museum. For readers registered to use the archive, the books can also be viewed. Brecht’s collection of books reflects much of his reading. However, in his years of exile, various books were also lost.
The individual titles are listed in the OPAC electronic library catalogue under the abbreviation NB bb*. The information is also available in printed form in the catalogue Die Bibliothek Bertolt Brechts. Ein kommentiertes Verzeichnis, edited by the Bertolt-Brecht-Archive, Frankfurt am Main, Suhrkamp, 2007.

After successful retroconversion, most of the monographs in the Archive Library of Bertolt Brecht are now available for research through the Akademie der Künste’s OPAC electronic library catalogue under the abbreviation BBA*. During the course of your research, you may find other call numbers with the abbreviations SB bb* and FB be*. These refer to documents in the branch of the Bertolt-Brecht-Archive.

These versions and drafts can be searched for in the Archives Database with the first words of the text. As a rule, the record of such a work cites the first three to five words in place of the title. If the version is missing a well-known title or deviates from the published work, the title by which the work is known is added in square brackets, and can also be found with the search function.

The Bertolt Brecht Archive is housed at Chausseestraße 125 in Berlin-Mitte. To organise your visit, you can refer to the archive’s website.

This was quoted by Karl Kleinschmidt in his obituary article in the Berliner Zeitung newspaper of 17 August 1956, three days after Brecht’s death.

Nowhere. The sentence was written by Carl Sandberg. Sandberg’s novel The People, Yes (1936) contains the sentence “Sometime they’ll give a war and nobody will come”. Since the 1980s, this sentence has repeatedly been ascribed to Brecht and quoted together with his Koloman-Wallisch-Kantate.

No. The materials and manuscripts available for viewing in the Reading Room are all digital reproductions. The originals are too fragile to be made available to readers.

To arrange your visit to the Walter Benjamin Archive, you can refer to the archive’s website.

No. His only known surviving radio broadcasts are two scenes from his radio play Radau um Kasperl in a production by the Westdeutscher Rundfunk, Cologne. This was broadcast on 9 September 1932 for their children’s programme – roughly six months after it was premiered by the Südwestdeutscher Rundfunk, Frankfurt. The Deutsche Rundfunk Archiv has released the two scenes with various other pieces on CD (Was Kinder gerne hör(t)en, was Kasperl zu erzählen hat, Stiftung Deutsches Rundfunkarchiv 2003).

In 2011, in an interview with France Culture, Stéphane Hessel, son of Franz Hessel, a writer and friend of Benjamin, claimed that he believed he had identified Benjamin’s voice reading the part of the Kasperl in the radio play. Since Benjamin was not known to have been involved in the Cologne production, this claim is disputed among Benjamin scholars.

Lisa Fittko, who wanted to guide Benjamin across the border, mentioned a heavy briefcase that Benjamin had with him. Fittko believed that Benjamin was carrying his latest manuscript in a determined bid to save it. After Benjamin’s death, the authorities noted that papers with unknown content were found with the body. Since these papers are now lost, it is impossible to say what Benjamin sought to save during his escape, and whether this was a manuscript, notes or other documents.

After Leo Löwenthal’s death, his widow bequeathed his papers and manuscripts to the University Library Johann Christian Senckenberg at the Johann Wolfgang von Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt am Main. Since 2011, Leo Löwenthal’s private library has been part of the Walter Benjamin Archive. The Hamburger Stiftung zur Förderung von Wissenschaft und Kultur had arranged with Löwenthal to take over his private library after his death. The library’s holdings can be researched in the Akademie der Künste’s electronic library catalogue OPAC. Items may also be viewed from the holdings at the Walter Benjamin Archive in Luisenstraße 60.

Theodor W. Adorno’s bequest library which, unfortunately, is not complete, is part of the Theodor W. Adorno Archive in the Institute of Social Research, Frankfurt am Main. A catalogue of the surviving books is available online (PDF). All the pages of books with notes in the margin, underlinings or other traces of Adorno’s use have been reproduced and are available as photocopies in the Walter Benjamin Archive.

The archive is in Frankfurt am Main. Founded in 1985 by the Hamburger Stiftung zur Förderung von Wissenschaft und Kultur, it has been integrated in the Institute of Social Research since 2005. As they are supported by the same foundation, the Theodor W. Adorno Archive and the Walter Benjamin Archive work closely together. Researchers in Berlin working on Adorno can contact the Walter Benjamin Archive at the Akademie der Künste in Berlin to view the Frankfurt holdings as photocopies or digital reproductions.

The Imre Kertész Archive is open to all interested researchers during regular opening hours. Letters of recommendation or proof of qualification are not required to view archival material. A brief description of the Archive (in German) is available in the Archives Database. Please note the Access and Reading Room Regulations .
To reserve a place in the Reading Room, Robert-Koch-Platz 10, 10115 Berlin, please send an Email to: benutzung@adk.de.

A Kertész Imre Archívum a rendes nyitvatartási időben minden érdeklődő kutató számára szabadon hozzáférhető. A kéziratok megtekintéséhez nincs szükség ajánlólevélre vagy egyéb igazolására. A Kertész Imre Archívum rövid, német nyelvű leírása megtalálható az archívum adatbankjában. Kérjük, tartsa szem előtt az Archívum és az Olvasóterem használatára vonatkozó szabályokat. A 10115 Berlin, Robert-Koch-Platz 10 szám alatt levő olvasóterem igénybevételéhez helyfoglalás szükséges. Igényét kérjük előzetesen jelezze a benutzung@adk.de e-mail címre.

Due to privacy law, documents from the Imre Kertész Archive that pertain to the rights of living persons, such as correspondences and diaries for example, may only be viewed with the written permission of those persons. The Access Regulations for the Archive are available in German, English and Hungarian.

A Kertész Imre Archívum azon dokumentumai, amelyek élő személyek jogait érintik (pl. levelek, naplók), a személyiségi jogok védelme érdekében csak az érintettek írásbeli engedélyével tekinthetők meg. Az Archívum használatára vonatkozó rendelkezések német, angol  és magyar nyelven is elérhetők.

Imre Kertész, who was a member of the Akademie der Künste, handed his archival holdings over to the Akademie der Künste during his lifetime and arranged the contractual terms of the transfer. The Archive was opened during an event in 2012 at the Akademie der Künste in the presence of the author and has been presented in events and publications of the Akademie der Künste.

Kertész Imre, aki tagja volt a Berlini Művészeti Akadémiának, még életében átadta a Művészeti Akadémiának az archívumát, amelyet szerződésben is átruházott az intézményre. Az archívum 2012-ben a szerző jelenlétében nyílt meg a Művészeti Akadémián egy rendezvény keretében, és azóta színhelye és tárgya a Művészeti Akadémia rendezvényeinek és publikációinak.

The Archive covers the period from 1929 to 2016 and is approximately 18 metres in length. It contains the complete literary work of Imre Kertész, with manuscripts ranging from first drafts to final versions of published works. These include Fatelessness, Fiasco and Kaddish for an Unborn Child, as well as the later works Liquidation and The File on K. Also included are his numerous speeches and drafts, as well as his work journals, which he had kept since 1958. The Archive also contains extensive correspondence by Imre Kertész, personal documents, photographs and a wide-ranging collection of reviews.

Az archívum Kertész Imre életének 1929 és 2016 közötti időszakából 18 folyóméternyi anyagot tartalmaz. Átfogja Kertész Imre egész írói munkásságát a megjelent művek valamennyi változatának kéziratával. Ide tartozik többek között a Sorstalanság, A kudarc és a Kaddis a meg nem született gyermekért vagy a kései művek közül például a Felszámolás, a K. dosszié és A végső kocsma. Elérhető még számos beszédkézirat és vázlat, valamint az 1958 óta vezetett munkanapló. Része az archívumnak Kertész Imre széles körű levelezése, személyes dokumentumai és iratai, fotói, valamint a kritikák és recenziók gazdag gyűjteménye.

The documents in the Imre Kertész Archive are detailed and accessible in the Archives Database. The bilingual structure enables the search for both German and Hungarian titles. Questions regarding the holdings can be directed to the Literature Archives in German, English or Hungarian.

A Kertész Imre Archívum iratanyagát az archívum adatbankja ismerteti és lehetőséget nyújt különböző szempontok szerinti keresésekre. A kétnyelvű jegyzékben mind a német, mind a magyar nyelvű műcímekre rá lehet keresni. Az állományra vonatkozó kérdéseket az Irodalmi Archívum címére kérjük megküldeni német, angol vagy magyar nyelven.

It is possible to order copies from the Imre Kertész Archive for research purposes in accordance with the Access and Reading Room Regulations. The general price list as well as quantity limitations apply.

Másolatok megrendelésére a Kertész Imre Archívum dokumentumairól kutatási célokra van lehetőség a Használati szabályzat és az Olvasótermi szabályzat adta keretek között. A másolatok rendelésekor az általános díjszabást, valamint a mennyiségi korlátozásokat is kérjük figyelembe venni.

For copyright reasons, images of the original works are not available online.

Szerzői jogi okokból az eredeti kéziratokról készült másolatok online nem elérhetők.

Citations should use the following form: Akademie der Künste, Berlin, Imre Kertész Archive, Call Number. For copyright reasons, publication of previously unpublished texts and passages as well as illustrations from the Imre Kertész Archive require the approval of the respective copyright holder.

Az idézetek hivatkozási módja a következő: Akademie der Künste, Berlin, Imre-Kertész-Archiv, jelzet. A Kertész Imre Archívumból származó, még nem publikált szövegek és szövegrészletek, valamint fényképek közléséhez szerzői jogi okokból a mindenkori jogtulajdonos hozzájárulása szükséges.