Theater studies collection University of Cologne

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The University of Cologne's Theater Studies Collection is an international documentation and research center for theater history and media culture at the University of Cologne . The focus of the collection is on the one hand on the German-speaking theater culture - with a comprehensive review and photo archive, which is supplemented by a diverse graphic collection - and on the other hand on the theater and media forms of different cultures and epochs. Peter W. Marx has been the director since February 2, 2012 .

history

The theater studies collection was founded in the 1920s by Carl Niessen . In 1924 Niessen received the first professorship for theater studies at the University of Cologne. His institute's collection of historical and current theatrics was intended to serve his students as illustrative and research material. In addition, he sought a connection between science and the public in a theater museum, which was set up in Cologne city center in 1931. After a fire in 1942, the museum material had to be relocated.

In 1955 the collection found its home in Schloss Wahn . The location was only intended as a short-term provisional facility, as the condition of the rented castle did not allow proper storage, recording and processing of the collection items, but the relationship often developed its own special longevity, during which the collection grew steadily. It was expanded to include individual items, bequests and extensive special collections, the latter mainly including Carl Niessen's private collection, which he sold to the university in 1959 in order to use the proceeds to found the Niessen Academic Foundation, which is still active today.

From 1960 to 1971 Rolf Badenhausen took over the management of the theater studies collection.

Günther Erken headed the collection between 1971 and 1978, but in 1978 he left university at his own request in order to devote himself entirely to practical theater work. So he was u. a. worked as a dramaturge for Hansgünther Heyme in Stuttgart.

In 1979 Elmar Buck took over the chair and management of the collection and was in charge of the house until 2010.

While Niessen's successors had pushed for the separation of Schloss Wahn and, moreover, the separation of the "museum" from the university, under new management the decision was made in 1980 to leave the collection permanently at Schloss Wahn and at the university. The state of North Rhine-Westphalia, the university and above all the owner of Schloss Wahn, Robin Freiherr von Eltz-Rübenach , responded with the willingness to invest in the house, which was renovated within 15 years according to the requirements of the theater studies collection.

At the same time as this renovation of the house, the consolidation of the collection was tackled: the material was re-examined, subjected to scientific examination, stored in a conservational manner and, if necessary, restored. Above all, however, one began with its recording as the most urgent desideratum, but the Wahner Conditions had not yet made a complete inventory, let alone catalog, of what had been collected over decades. Of course, these decisions and measures also caused the final departure from the questionable museum concept in favor of a now clearly academic orientation of the house, which has officially been called the Theater Studies Collection since 1993.

Since 2012, the Theater Studies Collection has also been increasingly involved in the field of “Digital Humanities”; In a first project, over 3,500 glass plate negatives could be digitized and converted into positives. This made it possible to secure a previously unknown stock of pictures, especially on Munich theater history of the early 20th century, and to make it accessible to research and the public.

Researchers associated with the theater studies collection

This article or the following section is not adequately provided with supporting documents ( e.g. individual evidence ). Information without sufficient evidence could be removed soon. Please help Wikipedia by researching the information and including good evidence.

Library

The library of the theater studies collection consists of around 100,000 volumes that deal primarily with German-language theater from the 16th century to the present day. The library is open for academic use from Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. and is purely a reference library. H. the books can be viewed in the reading room, but cannot be borrowed.

Bundles, personal archives and bequests from the following artists (selection)

Research Center

The Theater Studies Collection sees itself not only as an archive and documentation center, but also as an international research center. In the summer, the collection houses the Summer Institute Cologne [sic!] Organized jointly with Northwestern University (Evanston, USA) under the direction of Tracy C. Davis and Peter W. Marx .

Web links

Commons : Theater studies collection of the University of Cologne  - collection of images, videos and audio files

swell

  • Helmar Klier: Theater Studies and University. In: ders. (Ed.): Theater studies in German-speaking countries. Darmstadt 1981, pp. 327-343.
  • Erika Fischer-Lichte, Wolfgang Greisenegger and Hans-Thies Lehmann (eds.): Fields of work in theater studies. Tubingen 1994.
  • Theo Girshausen: About the Theater Studies Collection Schloss Wahn. Estate publication 2012. [1]

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://tws.phil-fak.uni-koeln.de/
  2. ↑ Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger (KStA) Cologne from November 26, 2011: THEATERWISSENSCHAFT: 6 questions to Prof. Dr. Werner Marx (interview conducted by Roland Schriefer) , accessed on April 22, 2014
  3. ↑ http://tws.phil-fak.uni-koeln.de/31876.html , accessed on October 28, 2017.
  4. ↑ See Helmar Klier (Hrsg.): Theater studies in the German-speaking area. Darmstadt 1981, p. 331.
  5. ^ Summer Institute Cologne. Retrieved September 30, 2017 .