Poster Collection

This extensive collection comprises around 50,000 posters primarily focused on cultural and political posters from the Soviet zone of occupation and from East Germany, the Federal Republic of Germany, and other European countries, in particular Switzerland and the Soviet Union. In addition, the holdings provide a reference collection of posters for events at the Akademie der Künste.

© Akademie der Künste, Berlin, Art Collection, Inv. No.: Poster 1187

Hans Rudi Erdt, Flieger zur See, 1917

Akademie der Künste, Berlin, Art Collection, Inv. No.: Poster 4271

Leoš Janáček, Das schlaue Füchslein, Komische Oper Berlin

© Akademie der Künste, Berlin, Art Collection, Inv. No.: Poster 18466

Horst Neumann, viel hilft nicht viel, Deutsches Hygiene-Museum Dresden, 1961

© Akademie der Künste, Berlin, Art Collection, Inv. No.: Poster 30067

Klaus Wittkugel, DDR FILM PLAKAT Ausstellung, Berlin, 1958.

© Akademie der Künste, Berlin, Art Collection, Inv. No.: Poster 25772

Hartmut Henning, Hoffmanns Erzählungen, Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin, 1988

Posters from theatre and film as well as advertising and tourism in East Germany comprise one main area in the collection. In addition, thanks to its many artists’ estates, e.g. the archive of commercial artist Klaus Wittkugel, as well as representative sets of works and working drawings by individual artists such as Helmut Brade, Hartmut Henning, Horst Neumann, Niklaus Troxler or Volker Pfüller, the holdings facilitate a multifaceted analysis of graphic design’s history and development in Germany. The Poster Collection is also supplemented by provenance holdings, for instance, poster collections of Christa Wolf or Gisela May, which were taken over from other Archives Departments and often reflect the interests and careers of those who donated them.