The library on the upper floor of the Sprengel Museum Hannover contains examples of and information about international art in the 20th and 21st centuries, including photography and new media. Additional emphasis is placed on museology and education in a museum context. Some information on architecture and design is also available.The bulk of the contents of this library comprises older books about 20th century art (mostly from the 50s and 60s) thanks to the fusing of material from the Kestner Museum (printed works), the provincial gallery of Hanover (painting and sculpture) and Bernhard Sprengel’s private collection. The library and the museum were opened in June 1979. Since then, both have been continually enlarged through purchases and the exchange of correspondence, gifts as well as donations. Presently, the library contains 67,000 objects in different media (last updated: December 2007). Among the types of publication presented are indexes of works, monographs, catalogues (from one-man and group exhibitions), magazines, auction catalogues, small printed matter (i.e. invitations or small-scale publications), audio-visual media (ranging from records to DVDs) as well as material from several artists’ estates (the most comprehensive and significant of which are the estates of Robert Michel and Ella Bergmann-Michel as well as part of Alexander Dorner’s estate, the former director of what was then the provincial museum, now called the Niedersächsisches Landesmuseum Hannover). The concept for the latter was realised in co-operation with a number of internationally recognised artists and continues to this very day. The library is rich in international exhibition catalogues, especially from western Europe but also from further afield. It is, so to say, unique - at least for the federal state of Lower Saxony and, indeed, more than what one would expect from a library encompassing a range of material rarely seen under one roof.

Martina Behnert
Sprengel Museum Hannover - Library
Kurt-Schwitters-Platz
30169 Hannover
Germany
www.sprengel-museum.com/library/index.htm
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Opening Hours:
Tuesday 2.00pm – 8.00pm, Wednesday - Saturday 2.00pm – 6.00pm.