Department of Prints and Drawings  

Department of Prints and Drawings

A treasure trove of art on paper

The Department of Prints and Drawings at the Kunsthalle Bremen is one of the most important collections of graphic works in Germany. Its holdings encompass over 220,000 works, including drawings, prints, watercolours, miniatures, sketch books, posters, and artistically illustrated books from seven centuries. A special focus of the collection is on drawings and prints of the German, Netherlandish, and Italian schools from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries, as well as on French and German art of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

The Old Cabinet, photo: Karen Blindow

Viewing Times

Tu 10 am–4 pm and by appointment

Works on paper are especially sensitive to light. For this reason, they are kept in closed portfolios, boxes, and cabinets and can only be presented in temporary exhibitions lasting three months. Academic catalogues and the Kunsthalle Bremen’s – future – online database will make selected works in the collection available on a permanent basis.

Works can be presented for viewing in the Old Cabinet, which was set up in 1902, on Tuesdays between 10 am and 4 pm or by appointment. Please contact our collection curators at +49 (0)421 - 32 908 460 or click on the contact form under "Ansprechpartner*innen" at the bottom of the page.

Upon prior arrangement, objects from the Department of Prints and Drawings can be made available in the Cabinet for teaching purposes. If you are an interested, please contact us beforehand to set a date.

The New Cabinet, photo: Marcus Meyer

Digital Accessibility

The Kunsthalle Bremen realizes an extensive project to make the entire collection of the Department of Prints and Drawings accessible digitally. Works on paper will be entered into the Kunsthalle’s existing public online database and published successively. The long-term plan is to integrate the graphic collections of various national and international museums into a common portal to allow access to all the holdings in one place.

This project is supported by the Waldemar Koch Stiftung.

From 2017 till 2020, the extensive collection of fifteenth and sixteenth-century German and Netherlandish printed works and drawings from the Klugkist Collection were digitized, funded by the BMBF. From May 2019 to April 2023, the collections of French and Japanese prints and drawings were digitally made accessible as part of a project funded by the DFG.

Learn more about digital access to the Department of Prints and Drawings here.

Highlights

from more than 200,000 drawings and printed works

We’re looking for new friends! Become a member of the Friend’s Circle of the Department of Prints and Drawings.

The Department of Prints and Drawings is a member of the Arbeitskreis Graphik vernetzt.

Contact us:

Verwaltung Kupferstichkabinett (Thomas Schrader | erreichbar: montags & dienstags, 9-16 Uhr)
+49 (0)421 - 32 908 460
Verwaltung Kupferstichkabinett (Annika Meiners)
+49 (0)421 - 32 908 410