Content
Preserving a chapter of German photographic history 1945 - 1960
Funded through the KUR – Programme for the Conservation of Moveable Cultural Assets
The German Photographic Library at the Saxon State and University Library in Dresden (SLUB) maintains an important photo archive of German art and cultural history. The KUR project aimed to preserve and publish all 68,000 film negatives which document the history of Berlin, Dresden and Leipzig between 1945 and 1960 and portray the political, cultural and urban development during this dynamic period of change and restructuring of German life. These unique, yet unpublished photos by Hildegard Jäckel, Richard Peter Sr., Abraham Pisarek, Roger and Renate Rössing portray a virtual panorama of the leading figures in politics, culture and science during the decisive years when East and West Germany were established.
The original film negatives were digitalized and then transferred to long-lasting polyester film. Many of the negatives had already begun to deteriorate – a process which today’s technology can neither stop nor reverse.
With this collection of unpublished photos of Berlin, Dresden and Leipzig, the project attempted to develop an innovative and financially viable approach to preserving cultural and historic photographic works which other photo archives may also employ. As the photos were preserved, the project made them publicly accessible via a free image databank at www.deutschefotothek.de and the Internet platform www.Europeana.eu.
Project administrator:
Saxon State and University Library in Dresden (SLUB)
Contact:
Contact for technical questions:
Dr. Jens Bove
Departmental director of the Deutsche Fotothek
Tel.: +49 (0)351 4677600
www.deutschefotothek.de
Project management:
Bärbel Kühnemann
Representative for external funds
Tel.: +49 (0)351 4677107
Sächsische Landesbibliothek –
Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Dresden
01054 Dresden
Visitors’ address:
Zellescher Weg 18
01069 Dresden
www.slub-dresden.de
Further Informations
For further information please contact the projects website:
KUR Programme
The KUR Programme for the Conservation of Moveable Cultural Assets was jointly initiated by the Federal Cultural Foundation and the Foundation of German States. From 2007 to 2011, the programme funded 26 projects which helped safeguard acutely threatened objects and collections of great cultural-historical significance.
