17 February 2020

Akademie der Künste opens the archive of the Henschel Publishing House
Event on Wednesday, 26 February, Pariser Platz

Bruno Henschel received his publisher's license in 1945, initially in the area of theatre distribution: In the subsequent years he developed the Henschel Publishing House (Henschelverlag) into a leading publisher for the arts in the GDR. The Henschelverlag was unique in its programme of publications that placed the fields of music, film, theatre and fine arts on equal footing with the entertaining arts such as cabaret and varieté. Under Henschel publishers, important magazines such as Theater der Zeit, founded by Fritz Erpenbeck, were published, along with the work of prominent authors from East and West, including Günther Weisenborn and Peter Weiss, Volker Braun and Heiner Müller.

The archive of the publishing house, which was taken over by the Akademie der Künste and is now accessible for researchers and the general public, provides insights into the history of culture and censorship in the GDR, also known as the 'country of reading'. The editorial files document the development process of nearly every single book published by Henschel from 1947 to 1990. The documents, which were transferred from some 300 files into acid-free portfolios and archive boxes, now fill a total of 19.4 metres of shelves in the Academy's stacks.

To mark the 75th birthday of the Henschelverlag publishing house, the archive will open on 26 February in the Akademie der Künste on Pariser Platz. Book historians and historical eyewitnesses will present interesting documents from the holdings and speak about the circumstances and possibilities that existed in the East German publishing industry. At the same time, an extensive publisher's bibliography will be made accessible for research purposes via the archival database (https://archiv.adk.de/bigobjekt/38841).

With Jenny Erpenbeck, Franziska Galek, Irina Liebmann, Christoph Links, Konstantin Ulmer and many others

For inqueries
Franziska Galek, Literature Archive, galek@adk.de, Tel. (030) 20057-3274

Event information
Archive opening: Publisher of the arts. The Henschelverlag in the GDR
Akademie der Künste, Pariser Platz 4, 10117 Berlin
Wednesday, 26 February 2020, 7 pm, admission € 6/4,
free entrance for visitors under 18
(030) 200 57-1000 or ticket@adk.de
Tickets available online at www.adk.de/tickets
>> Press tickets available at presse@adk.de, Tel. 030 20057-1514