Kunstbibliothek

The Kunstbibliothek is one of the largest museum libraries focusing on art history and cultural studies. It holds valuable collects ions on the history of architecture, photography, graphic design, fashion, book art and media art. It also holds more than a million objects in its museum collects ion, including first-editions, posters, drawings and models that range from the Middle Ages to present day — notably a comprehensive photographic collects ion — and these objects regularly feature in special exhibitions. Rather than a single location, the Kunstbibliothek comprises a network of facilities whose holdings are found at three separate venues in Berlin. The library of art history and the museum collects ions are situated at the Kulturforum near Potsdamer Platz. The Archaeological Library is accessible at the Archäologisches Zentrum, opposite the Museumsinsel Berlin, and the Kunstbibliothek presents its collects ion of Photography at the Museum für Fotografie, opposite Berlin Zoologischer Garten station. A fourth site, focusing on non-European enthology, is planned for the Humboldt-Forum.

The archaeological library holds a broad collects ion that focuses on the study of ancient civilizations. The approximately 150,000 volumes encompass subjects including Egyptology, Near-Eastern archaeology and Oriental philology, classical archaeology, epigraphy, literature on prehistoric cultures of Europe and the ancient Near East up to the Middle Ages, papyrology, conservation and restoration, the archaeology of Sudan, and publications by the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin.