Archive

The archive, which preserves Haeckel’s voluminous Nachlass (roughly 38,000 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 Haeckel 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 edition.

The archive also houses part of the Nachlässe of Victor Franz, Ludwig Plate, Julius Schaxel, Heinrich Schmidt and George Schneider. A substantial part of Theodor Schwann’s Nachlass was transferred to the archive in November 2021.

Contact: Thomas Bach