LIPPERHEIDESCHE KOSTÜMBIBLIOTHEK The Lipperheide

LIPPERHEIDESCHE KOSTÜMBIBLIOTHEK
The Lipperheide Costume Library
in the Kunstbibliothek, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
History of the Collection
The Lipperheide Costume Library is the world's largest special collection focussing on the
cultural history of clothing and fashion. Its foundations lie in the comprehensive private
collection of husband and wife Franz and Frieda Lipperheide, publishers in Berlin, who in
1899 generously donated their collected works to the Royal Museums of Berlin. Since then,
the Lipperheide Costume Library has been developed as an independent department of the
Kunstbibliothek, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. Today, its extensive holdings comprise around
35,000 volumes of books and magazines from the 16th century to the present, as well as
manuscripts, paintings and around 70,000 individual sheets of drawings, prints and
photographs. The collection offers pictorial and written sources on all aspects of the
international history of clothing and fashion and covers a variety of subjects such as travel
and festivity, sports and leisure, dance and theatre, etiquette and table manners, caricature
and dresscode. The collection of graphic art focusses on costume and fashion designs from
the Renaissance to the contemporary, international fashion illustrations and 20th century
fashion photography.
The Lipperheide Costume Library is widely accessible to the public: every item of its
renowned collection can be studied in the library's reading room. Additionally, exhibitions and
accompanying publications regularly present and document the highlights of the collection.
Selected Exhibitions
1994 Early Fashion Photography in Parisian Studios
1996 XTC Ecstasy - Dance Photography: Dieter Blum and the 1920s
1997 Erwin Blumenfeld - Dada and Photography
1999 Variety and Revue - William Budzinski: Costume Designer and Collector
2001 Embassadors of Fashion - Star Mannequins and Photo Models of the 1950s in
International Fashion Photography
2003 Ridicule! Fashion in Caricature 1600 to 1900
Latest Publications
Adelheid Rasche (ed.): Die Kultur der Kleider. Berlin 1999. 136 pages, 9,70 €.
Published on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Lipperheide Costume Library.
Adelheid Rasche u. Gundula Wolter (ed.): Ridikül! Mode in der Karikatur, 1600 bis 1900.
Köln u. Berlin, Verlag SMB – Dumont, 2003. 320 pages, 29,90 €.
Kunstbibliothek Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Matthäikirchplatz 6, 10785 Berlin
General information:
http://www.smb.museum/smb/de/home/index.phpLibrary catalogues:
https://opac.smb.spk-berlin.de/
February 2004