Art and Museum Library of the City of Cologne

The Art and Museum Library is the largest library of its kind in northwest Germany. It is a public library and is open to everyone free of charge. As it is a reference library the collection of books can only be used in the reading rooms. It is possible to have photocopies and printouts (10 cents per page) made where this is technically possible and considerations of conservation permit.

It is possible to inform the library in advance by telephone, fax, e-mail or via the online catalogue (http://194.8.223.32) what literature you require. Ordering in advance is advisable as some groups of works are stored elsewhere for reasons of space.

Collection

The collection comprises roughly 350,000 volumes and 783 current journals and museum periodicals. The collection of books at the Art and Museum Library of the City of Cologne covers the period from the Middle Ages to the present day with particular reference to publications relevant to museums (catalogues of collections and exhibitions, museological literature, museum bulletins, auction catalogues etc.). 

Areas of special emphasis

The library receives support in three of the areas in which it collects from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) (German research society). 

Fine Arts in the 20th and 21st centuries

This mainly includes monographs on artists, catalogues of works and exhibition catalogues. As the museum participates in an international exchange of writings on a substantial scale it has a large amount of "grey" literature which does not appear in the book trade. 

Art of the BeNeLux countries

The library collects literature on the fine arts and architecture in Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. A large part of the collection includes monographs on artists and themes in art history. At the same time the library collects catalogues of collections and exhibitions in this field. 

Pictorial documents of photography and film

The collecting focus for the field of photography is complemented by the "Bruno-Uhl-Bibliothek der deutschen Gesellschaft für Photography (DGPh)" (library of the German Society for Photography) and by the library of the "Agfa Foto-Historama" creating one of the largest libraries of photography in Germany which concentrates on the history of photography, genres in photography and applied photography. The photographic magazines from the late 19th and early 20th centuries represent an especially rare collection. 

Literature search service

The entire collection of the Art and Museum Library (with the exception of auction catalogues) can be researched in the online catalogue (OPAC) (http://194.8.223.32)and in the virtual catalogue for art history (VKK) (http://vkk.uni-karlsruhe.de). In addition, the homepage of the Art and Museum Library offers further search possibilities for literature on art history and interdisciplinary literature collected at other libraries.