The German National Library's exhibitions, publications and extensive programme of events make an important contribution to society. We also attach great importance to political and social enlightenment and cultural education. Temporary and permanent exhibitions present and educate visitors about the extensive collection. What happened in 2022?

Digital eyewitness accounts

To ensure that the stories of eyewitnesses of the Shoah also reach future generations: since 2021, two interactive 3D interviews have been created as part of the project "Learning from the past for the present". The project is receiving funding from various bodies including the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media. As part of the project, the German Exile Archive 1933–1945 is cooperating closely with two eyewitnesses to preserve their experiences of anti-Semitic persecution and exile after 1933 for posterity. The interview with eyewitness Dr Kurt S. Maier was recorded in Washington D.C. in July 2021.

Asking questions helps: training the interactive eyewitness account

Between April and September 2022, the interactive testimony of Kurt S. Maier underwent beta testing at the German National Library in Frankfurt am Main and Leipzig. This post-production phase was the first opportunity for groups to ask questions of the interactive eyewitness account, thus training the system which will be facilitating dialogue with the testimony in the future. A large number of interested visitors took part in the beta tests and helped improve the system by asking questions.

A second interview with eyewitness Inge Auerbacher was recorded in New York in October 2022. This interview is currently at the start of the post-production phase. The beta testing is scheduled for September 2023.

The interactive eyewitness interviews are part of the Dimensions in TestimonySM programme by the USC Shoah Foundation – The Institute for Visual History and Education, in which the German Exile Archive 1933–1945 is also participating. Click here to find out more about the USC Shoah Foundation's programme.

"Homeland and origins"

By focusing on "Homeland and origins" in 2022, the German Museum of Books and Writing turned its attention to a range of topics that are currently highly relevant in terms of social policy, and organised numerous activities to communicate them to the general public. The most notable of these was the publication of the work Tiefenbohrung. Eine andere Provenienzgeschichte ["Deep Drilling. A Different Provenance Story"], which discusses the origins of cultural heritage in museums. The book takes a close look at the paths, detours, and dead ends that the items collected by the German National Library's German Museum of Books and Writing since 1884 had to navigate before finding a home in the DBSM's repository in Leipzig. Theft and destruction are just as much a part of this story as donations and other strokes of good fortune. The publication was complemented by two virtual exhibitions, a theme day and a series of films.

Fellowships for female Ukrainian authors

Two fellowships for female Ukrainian authors were established in cooperation with the German Institute for Literature. These engage with the subject of "homeland" in the sense of the loss of cultural identity enforced by exile. The two temporary exhibitions also paid tribute to the museum's main theme. "A friendship in correspondence" focused on the well-known illustrator Axel Scheffler with his global network of artists. The highly successful exhibition was accompanied by a lavishly illustrated publication and, together with the auction of an original drawing, raised a considerable sum for organisations providing aid for Ukraine.

With more than 80 artistic interpretations from three continents, the exhibition "Poetry in 3D. Poetic objects and textual sculptures since 1960", accompanied by the publication of a series of works, also focused on an international theme.

DBSM:meet is a new talk series that has now been firmly integrated into the DBSM's educational programme and focuses first and foremost on the topics of diversity and democracy.

Marcel Reich-Ranicki. One life, many roles

The temporary exhibition at the German Exile Archive 1933–1945 was dedicated to the many roles that Marcel Reich-Ranicki played or was forced to play throughout his life. It was curated by Uwe Wittstock und Sylvia Asmus, who also co-edited the eponymous publication. The exhibition was sponsored by Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain (Frankfurt RheinMain Culture Fund) and Stiftung Polytechnische Gesellschaft (Polytechnic Association Foundation) Frankfurt am Main. It was presented in cooperation with the television broadcaster ZDF. To accompany the exhibition, the Exile Archive offered a varied educational programme consisting of events, workshops and special guided tours, in many of which Reich-Ranicki's associates took part. These included Elke Heidenreich, Salomon Korn, Petra Roth, Werner von Bergen and Thomas Anz.

Events programme – a selection

Days of Exile

Bringing the subject of exile to the awareness of urban society – this was the idea behind the Days of Exile, held in Frankfurt for the first time from 1 to 17 September 2022 on the initiative of the German Exile Archive. In all, 29 organisers and numerous partners were involved in the organisation of the public-oriented programme of events and encounters. The extensive programme encompassed 40 events focusing on current and historical experiences of exile. The German National Library was also the venue of many events. The Exile Archive cooperated with the Körber Foundation on the Days of Exile.

Book fairs

The Leipzig Book Fair again had to be cancelled due to the pandemic. However, the planned readings at the DNB in Leipzig still went ahead with guests Nino Haratischwili und Dmitrij Kapitelmann.

In Frankfurt, the city reading festival OPEN BOOKS opened with the Blue Sofa at the German National Library – with Kim de l'Horizon, who had been announced as the German Book Prize winner just the day before, Manja Präkels, Durs Grünbein and Jürgen Kaube. The guests at BOOKFEST included authors such as Volker Weidermann, Mithu Sanyal and Florian Illies, Ian Kershaw, Richard David Precht and Harald Welzer OPEN BOOKS KIDS drew almost 1,200 young visitors to the DNB with entertaining interactive readings from the works of ten authors.

Reading Aloud Day

National Reading Aloud Day on 18 November 2022 saw us bring books to life at both the German National Library's locations. The German Museum of Books and Writing and the German Exile Archive also took part by offering readings.

"Frankfurt reads Irmgard Keun"

Thanks to the flexibility and perseverance of all involved, the reading festival "Frankfurt Reads a Book" survived the pandemic without interruption. The 13th literature festival accordingly opened at the German National Library as usual. It focused on Irmgard Keun's novel Nach Mitternacht ("After Midnight"), a milestone in exile literature. In a second event organised by the German Exile Archive, actor Melanie Straub read passages from the novel while Ariana Martin and Sylvia Asmus talked to Martin Maria Schwarz from TV broadcasting station hr2-kultur about how the novel was written and the impact it has had.

Error: language not found. Event held to mark International Mother Language Day

The logo for the "Error: Language (not) found" event Graphic: Marina Zumstein, Kulturverein Belarus, e.V.

There are around 7,000 different languages in the world along with countless dialects. In 2000, UNESCO declared that 21 February would henceforth be designated "International Mother Language Day", the aim being to foster this cultural diversity and multilingualism. This year, the DNB joined in and devoted an evening to rare languages, some of which are threatened with extinction. During the event “Error: Language (not) found", guests had the opportunity to acquaint themselves with Tornedalen Finnish, Kildin Sámi, Belarusian and Bavarian. They found out more about the history of these languages, the areas where they are spoken and the people who speak them.

"A day for music"

An event to mark the Hesse-wide day of action “A day dedicated to music”. Musikland Hessen is a network project overseen by hr2-kultur, sponsored by the Hessian Ministry of Science and the Arts and executed in collaboration with the Music Council of the State of Hesse. The German National Library's reading room in Frankfurt am Main was the venue of two lavishly illustrated presentations by the German Music Archive (DMA) on its function, working methods and collections. An exhaustive presentation gave the public a glimpse of the special rooms at the Leipzig location along with impressions of the music reading room, exhibition, listening booth and sound studio. More important, however, was the reminder that the DMA belongs to both sites. The majority of the music collection can also be used at the DNB's Frankfurt location – no less than 500,000 hours of digitised music and almost one million items of sheet music.

"CultureTrail. A case for monumental protection": exciting insights into the German National Library

As a monument, the German National Library’s historic building in Leipzig is a testimony to both its builders and to times gone by. The library extensions have opened up space for more workstations and media. while the style of every epoch has been preserved up until the present day. Yet it is not only the architecture that has changed over time but also the opportunities available for research. While books were formerly located using card catalogues, searches are now made digitally. On Open Heritage Site Day 2022, therefore, the motto was: CultureTrail. A case for the tour guides at the German National Library in Leipzig.