Chamisso Prize Collection

The Chamisso Prize Collection (Chamisso-Preis-Sammlung) is a special collection at the German Literature Archive Marbach (DLA). Its foundation is a library taken over in 1998 (with later additions) from the Institute for German as a Foreign Language at the University of Munich, forming the basis of Marbach's collection on migrant literature. The closed book holdings contain texts by authors of foreign nationality who published their literary and essayistic works in German, as well as some translations of original editions into German. Since 1998/1999 the collection has been continuously supplemented by purchases, which are not physically integrated into the Munich "old" holdings but assigned to the individual authors' stacks locations. Bibliographic access is provided through the local online catalogue Kallías. The value of this source and material collection lies in documenting not only the works of Chamisso Prize laureates but also a rich fund of books by contemporary writers whose mother tongue or literary language was not German, or who write in two languages. Many books appeared only with small, short-lived publishers, others in very small print runs with only local distribution; the presence of this diversity of authors and titles in one place, together with the corresponding secondary literature, optimizes working conditions in the field of cultural migration and integration research. The translations of works by the Syrian-German author Rafik Schami exemplify his by now worldwide impact. Timely cataloguing of the Munich holdings was made possible within the framework of project funding by the Robert Bosch Foundation; conservation measures could also be carried out (e.g. removal of glued-on signature labels).

The Chamisso Prize Collection is a special collection at the German Literature Archive Marbach (DLA). Its foundation is a library taken over in 1998 (with later additions) from the Institute for German as a Foreign Language at the University of Munich, forming the basis of Marbach's collection on migrant literature. The closed book holdings contain texts by authors of foreign nationality who published their literary and essayistic works in German, as well as some translations of original editions into German. Since 1998/1999 the collection has been continuously supplemented by purchases, which are not physically integrated into the Munich "old" holdings but assigned to the individual authors' stacks locations. Bibliographic access is provided through the local online catalogue Kallías. Timely cataloguing of the Munich holdings was made possible within the framework of project funding by the Robert Bosch Foundation; conservation measures could also be carried out (e.g. removal of glued-on signature labels).

A source and material collection for cultural migration and integration research, documenting Chamisso Prize laureates and other German-language writers of non-German mother tongue or literary language.

1. 1Chamisso-Preis-Sammlung - DLA Marbachdla-marbach.de
2. 2Über uns - DLA Marbachdla-marbach.de
3. 3Geschichte - DLA Marbachdla-marbach.de