The Sing-Akademie Bachiana – Preservation and conservation

The Sing Akademie zu Berlin, founded in 1791, is the oldest civic chorus and concert association in the world. This non-profit organization receives no public subsidies and finances its diverse cultural activities through sponsoring.
After the “Bachiana” archive was discovered in Kiev in 1999, it was returned to Berlin in accordance with the “looted art” restitution agreement in 2001. The Bachiana is a collection of approximately 630 manuscripts written by members of the Bach family. For the Sing-Akademie, these represent the most valuable scores of its collection.
The KUR project aimed to conserve the Bachiana, in particular, to put a concept into place to repair the bindings and book blocks, as well as conserve the pages damaged by ink corrosion. The goal was to develop a practical conservation concept that could be used as a model and basis for preserving the entire collection of musical scores in the future. The results of the conservation measures were presented in an exhibition with works by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Wilhelm Friedemann Bach and others from the Old Bachian Archive.

Project administrator:
Sing-Akademie zu Berlin e. V.

Cooperative partners:
Berlin State Library – Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Music Department
Bach Archive, Leipzig
Stuttgart State Academy of Art and Design