Postcard Collection

The poster collection consists mainly of German pictorial and text posters from the fields of politics, society, economics, advertising, sport and culture since around 1880. Among them are outstanding works by Jules Cheret, Ludwig Hohlwein, Käthe Kollwitz, John Heartfield, Karl von Appen, Hans Baltzer, Otl Aichner, Rainer Hachfeld, Klaus Staeck and Wolfgang Janisch. The main focus continues to be on German political posters, with particular emphasis on the history of the labour movement since 1918, on National Socialism, and on the history of the GDR, the SED and other political parties and mass organisations. However, the political and social system of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1949 to the present day is also strongly represented. In addition, there are so-called “counter-images” – that is, posters that depict a reality different from that which was officially proclaimed. The collection features all common poster printing techniques, including lithography, offset and screen printing. The collection currently comprises around 85,000 posters.