Host institution:
Theatre Collection | Dept. Of Media Culture and Theatre | University of Cologne
About us
The Theaterwissenschaftliche Sammlung (TWS) [Theatre Collection] is an international documentation and research centre for theatre history and media culture. It houses one of the world's largest collections of ›Theatralia‹: textual and visual material on European theatre from the 16th century to the present day as well as a large collection of objects such as puppets, shadow figures and masks from all over the world. A recent addition to our holdings is the Werner Nekes Collection that opens to scope to the broad visual culture since the Early Modern period, such as Magic Lanterns, Peep Boxes, etc.
With its extensive reference library and various archive holdings, it offers a special place for research, teaching and learning at Schloss Wahn. As part of the Institute for Media Culture and Theatre, the Theatre Studies Collection is also a place for students and early career scholars: at the University of Cologne with Theatre Studies as an integral part of the Institute's diverse Bachelor's and Master's programmes, internationally through joint courses offered by the team or collaborations, such as the annual Summer School [six!], which has been taking place since 2013.
History
Carl Niessen began collecting in Cologne in 1919 - the same year in which he habilitated at the University of Cologne with a dissertation on theatre history. The same year he started teaching and collecting.
Ten years later, Niessen was appointed lecturer in Theatre Studies. In 1932, a building in the centre of Cologne made it possible to carry out research, collecting and teaching activities in the new theatre museum. Niessen continued his work under National Socialism and was appointed a full professor in 1938. During the Second World War, the collection was relocated and eventually moved to Schloss Wahn in 1955. Upon his retirement, Niessen transferred his private collection to the University of Cologne - the basis of today's Theatre Collection, which has been and continues to be expanded to this day.
The »provisional« location at Schloss Wahn has since become a permanent one and the »Theatre Museum« has been transformed into today's »Theaterwissenschaftliche Sammlung«, which has been headed by Prof. Dr Peter W. Marx since 2012.
Today, it is an international research centre, hosting scholars from all over the world for longer or shorter research stays. The team of the TWS is also engaged in curating exhibitions in cooperation with museums. Many of our objects are literally cultural ambassadors for the TWS and the University of Cologne as they are often requested as items on loan for international museums.