Research and reserve online at https://www.zeichenakademie.web-opac.de/

Welcome to the world of knowledge

The library of the Hanau Drawing Academy is a treasure trove of knowledge and creativity. Since the academy was founded, it has developed into an important place of learning and research thanks to donations and gifts. In the historic rooms you will find a comprehensive collection of current specialist literature, historical books, graphics and works of art.

The modern library offers not only traditional media, but also digitized resources and a diverse graphic arts collection. It is a lively place for study, inspiration and cultural events. Whether you are researching a project or just want to browse, you will find a world full of knowledge and artistic ideas here.

The history of the library

The central component of the drawing academy is the library. Teaching and learning materials were acquired immediately after the academy was founded, often from donations or gifts from supporters of the drawing academy. When the school was rebuilt in 1880, a large library room was created on the first floor in the area of the central projection in a representative location in the building - namely on the Akademiestrasse side and thus facing south - which also contained part of the template collection. The second floor is dominated by a high room with arched windows, in the keystones of which personifications of the trades trained at the drawing academy are embedded. This representative room was used as an auditorium for decades and was converted into a library during the second construction phase.

The library was managed by a librarian, a task that was performed for many years by the art historian Dr. Quilling, later by Dr. Grundmann, who had to give two hours of lessons and a total of four times two hours of book and template issues and collection management. The annual reports from 1886 onwards meticulously record the number of teaching and learning materials, and the annual statistics clearly show the growth of the library.

For the year 1886, the collection of sculptural models included 1,950 casts of various objects, mostly belonging to small art, around 2,400 casts of gems, coins, etc., as well as 1,800 old document seals (primarily from the Marburg State Archives), around 200 artistic embroideries and fabric samples, 525 casts of metal objects, 6 replicas of valuable objects from the metal industry and other objects.166The annual report for 1890/91 already mentions 1,000 books and collected works with a total of 2,500 volumes and folders, as well as the systematically arranged collection of models with arts and crafts objects on 6,000 plates, a 4,000-sheet collection of hand drawings, copperplate engravings and photographs including 1,200 ornamental engravings. At that time, the collection of sculptural models included 2800 casts of small art objects, 2400 casts of gems, coins, etc. and 1739 old document seals. In addition, 860 metal objects and 320 old embroidery and fabric patterns are mentioned.

The new library was to contain the entire media inventory - including the stock in the attic, consisting of a large number of wooden frame boxes covered with marbled paper on canvas for hundreds of graphics and prints from the old collection of templates. For this purpose, a glass-floored gallery was created in the upper part of the room with access to the magazines and non-loanable titles and in the lower part with mostly loanable media. The wooden frame boxes could be stored in pull-out apothecary cabinets in the adjoining room. These archives have already been partially digitized.

When the ceiling of the former library and the floor of the old auditorium were inspected, it was found that the steel ceiling supports that had been burned out when the academy building was destroyed on March 19, 1945 had not been replaced during reconstruction. This resulted in a structural problem that had not been foreseen in the planning, which was solved by installing two new double-T beams in parallel, which had to be screwed together in the room. To make matters worse, the anchoring in the interior walls, which had also been weakened by the damage, revealed vertical ventilation shafts that extended through several floors to the newly discovered corridors in the basement. These shafts could either be filled with concrete or used as cable shafts. All of these unforeseen replanning requirements inevitably resulted in a significantly higher renovation cost.

Due to the high weight of the media to be stored, the shelves were not to be placed on the new library floor, but instead an elaborate steel structure was created with steel beams that extend over the interior corridor, from which the library shelves and the glass gallery are suspended. This made it possible to reduce the load on the floor, which is also designed in a forward-looking way so that shelves can also extend into the library room at right angles. A half-height shelving wall separates the students' PC workstations on the window side from the library workroom, which can also be used as a classroom.

The auditorium, as a spacious and representative room, was often the setting for numerous parties, farewells, lectures, concerts and special events, and even hosted a flight demonstration of flying machines made of springs initiated by Uwe Böttinger. The old auditorium experienced a particularly entertaining and creative high point on September 29, 2007, when a spectacular chain reaction based on the actions of Peter Fischli & David Weiß - set up by schoolchildren under the direction of Joachim Katzmann - amazed the audience with exciting actions.

In order to be able to hold lessons or lectures in the library, a very large flat-screen TV was purchased, as well as a video and DVD recorder, and later a projector in a mobile container and a large, portable screen.

When the drawing academy was rebuilt in 1947, a new library was built, with shelves closed off as cupboards with profiled wooden doors, giving the room a rather forbidding but venerable character. The 19th century magazines and other older literature that had been saved from the war, as well as the numerous wooden storage boxes covered with canvas and covered with brown marbled paper, were initially stored in the attic. After the library was moved to the former auditorium, these objects were integrated into the library. The magazines are accessible via the gallery.

After Irma Zogel and later Margot Adler left the library, Dr. Bruno W. Thiele took over the management of the library in 1990. Heike Zimmer was responsible for maintaining the media collection and the lending operations and supervised numerous other staff on short-term contracts to strengthen the library's work. Isabel Seitz, Angelika Bauscher-Hofmann, Doris Kausch and Thomas Paul Konietschke deserve special mention here, also in cooperation with the Brothers Grimm Vocational Academy, whose own media collection was integrated into the library.

The move of the library to the former auditorium resulted in considerable organizational tasks that had to be completed by the library staff. The organization of the library move was carried out by Heike Zimmer on behalf of the Academy of Drawing, supported by Isabelle Seitz during the lengthy renovation work.

At the end of 2020, the library management system LITTERA for Windows was expanded to include the web OPAC system, which can now be used to digitally research the library's holdings and pre-order books from outside. A special feature of the library of the Hanau Drawing Academy is the extensive keyword index. Not only are the title and author listed, but the keywording is based on the specific requirements of the trained professions and design requirements. This means that individual searches can be carried out successfully for specific content and topics. The keyword index currently contains around 98,000 entries and a media inventory of around 20,000 titles.

The system of the Drawing Academy library has developed continuously from the history of the collection and is not always comparable with public libraries. By incorporating the media holdings of the Brothers Grimm Vocational Academy, the pupils and students of the Drawing Academy also have access to this holding, which can, however, only be borrowed by BGBA students. The Brothers Grimm Vocational Academy pays a rent for the use of the library.

The library also houses an extensive graphic collection, consisting of sketches, drafts and engravings by former students of the academy, as well as countless graphic templates such as steel engravings and etchings that served as design templates in the 19th century. This collection is to be fully inventoried and scientifically processed in the near future.

For many decades, inquiries from museums or private individuals about former ZA members, publications, etc. were answered as a matter of course, and assistance was given to external students, for example with research projects, with the library staff often being on hand to offer help and advice even after work hours.