Indexing and cataloguing of photographical holdings in the German Literature Archive

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Sandra Richter, since 7/2019
• Subject Area: General and Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies
• Term: from 2018 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 398445368

The DLA (Archive of German Literature) holds one of the most important collections of German literature worldwide. It is renowned as an institution dedicated both to collecting the estates of German authors as well as to making these findings accessible to the public. The centre-piece of the collection is formed by the estates of over 1.450 authors and scholars. Aside from manuscripts and other textual paraphernalia these estates often contain extensive collections of photographs, paintings, and other objects which are often closely linked to the author’s literary work. At the department „Bilder und Objekte“ (Images and Objects), these remains are filed and catalogued and eventually made available for further study. Of particular interest in this respect are the collections of photographs (of places or literary themes) which often reveal previously unknown connection between image and oeuvre. The proposed project aims at indexing and cataloguing the private photograph collections of renowned authors such as H. G. Adler, Gottfried Benn, Alfred Döblin, Claire und Yvan Goll, Walter Hasenclever, Hermann Hesse, Ernst Jünger, Marie Luise Kaschnitz, Harry Graf Kessler, Siegfried Kracauer, Mechtilde Lichnowsky, Arthur Schnitzler, Kurt Tucholsky, Armin T. Wegner und Carl Zuckmayer as well as the estates of scholars like Karl Jaspers and Peter Szondi.

• DFG Programme: Cataloguing and Digitisation (Scientific Library Services and Information Systems)
• Co-Investigator: Privatdozentin Dr. Susanna Brogi
• Ehemaliger Antragsteller: Professor Dr. Ulrich Raulff, until 6/2019