Chronological Focus
In the Theatre Collection, you’ll find more material than just from the recent past and the present. The TWS preserves numerous historical artifacts through a wide variety of objects. You’re warmly invited to browse our inventory lists and let yourself be surprised!
From the Early Modern period, for example, the Schembart manuscripts, prints, paintings, portraits, editions of plays, and theatre programs can be of assistance to you. You can conduct research on court festivities using early modern and Baroque paintings as well as festival books (the Jülich Wedding, the Dresden Court, princely processions, etc.). A quick note: In the inventory lists, early modern objects are often listed under “Anonymous.”
For the 19th century, it’s worth taking a look, for example, at the Breslau collection and the Carl Lautenschläger estate. You can also conduct research here on theatre studios from this period, such as the Brückner Atelier or the Rhenish Workshops for Stage Art.
From the 20th century, the TWS holds collections on Bauhaus (Andor Weininger, Oskar Schlemmer, Marianne Ahlfeld-Heymann, …), Soviet theatre, wartime theatre, Thingspiel, and much more!
Our highly interconnected collection cannot be adequately represented by historical periods alone. If you are interested in specific phenomena, we recommend exploring our various material collections and special collections. You can access the online collection lists through the departments. Can’t find what you’re looking for? Feel free to send us an enquiry at info-tws[at]uni-koeln.de or use our contact form.