Department of prints and drawings

Boasting a staggering 350,000 sheets, the Prints and Drawings Department stands as one of the largest and most unique collections in Germany and Europe. The collection is a testament to the rich artistic and cultural heritage of the German-speaking countries, with a focus on drawings, prints, miniatures, and applied graphics.

The holdings include artists' works - drawings, woodcuts, engravings, etchings, and other printing techniques - from the 15th to the 21st century, commercial prints, colored papers, ex-libris, and a rich collection of graphic sheets of cultural-historical interest.
 
Using the Prints and Drawings Collection

Accessing the Prints and Drawings Collection is a straightforward process. Visitors can request sheets in the study room, located on the first floor of the library building. To ensure a smooth experience, we recommend making a prior appointment in writing to studiensaal.graphik@gnm.de
We are there for you Tuesdays to Fridays, 9 am - 4 pm.

Various finding aids are available on-site to facilitate the use of the collection: artist, portrait, place, and subject indexes, as well as repertories for individual special collections. Most of the portrait collection is accessible via the Digitalen Porträtindex and the historical sheets via the den Bildindex der Kunst und Architektur. You may find further works in the GNM' online catalog.

Printed catalogs exist for German drawings up to the mid-16th century, German drawings of the 18th century, Dutch drawings from 1400 to 1800, old master German playing cards, and parts of the topographical collection—exhibition catalogs on many other topics, including posters.

Curators
Dr Christian Rümelin (Head curator)
Dr Claudia Valter (deputy)

Staff members
Karl Pöhlmann
Florian Schmidbauer
Ingrid Wambsganz M.A.