- Collection
Colonial Collections
- Humanities and Social Sciences
Glass slide on a layout table for closer inspection. Photo: Tom Stern, Goethe University
In 1948, the Frankfurt City and University Library took over not only the former library of the Reichskolonialbund (RKB) Berlin, but also the photographic collection of the RKB's “Bildstelle” (image archive), comprising approximately 45,000 photographic images.
The restoration and conservation of the originals, as well as their (re)digitization, cataloging, and presentation in local (OPAC) and supraregional portals (e.g., Europeana) serve as the basis for the scientific reappraisal of German colonial history using these historical collections. Between 2025 and 2027, the image collection will be re-indexed and presented in a newly designed online portal from 2028 onwards: https://vabiko.eu/
