Archive

The archive, which preserves Haeckel’s voluminous estate (roughly 40,000 original letters to and by Haeckel as well as his manuscripts, notebooks, documents, water colours, oil paintings, drawings, etc.) and which holds his extensive research library, is one of the most important archives on the history of biology and cultural history at the end of the 19^th and early 20^th century. Haeckel’s correspondence, the central component of the archive, has been the focus of a long-term project of editing letters to and from HaeckelExternal link running since 2013 and funded by the Union der deutschen Akademien [Union of German Academies]. It will be published in its entirety as an online edition and in selected volumes in a historical-critical print editionExternal link.

A substantial part of Theodor Schwann’s estate was transferred to the archive in November 2021.

Other partial estates:
- Victor Franz
- Ludwig Plate
- Julius Schaxel
- Heinrich Schmidt
- Georg Schneider

Other collections:
- collection on the experimental history of science
- medical history collection of Theodor Meyer-Steineg
- offprint collection of the history of science

Contact: Thomas Bach