Special Collections

The goal of the DFF’s collecting activities is to preserve estates and film-related materials as evidence of cultural history for scholars and future generations. In addition, the collections provide an essential basis for conceiving and presenting special exhibitions. The collection has been continuously expanded in recent years through targeted acquisitions, private and corporate donations, as well as purchases, permanent loans and deposits.

Most recently, the estate of Rainer Werner Fassbinder and his text and photo archives were acquired with the support of the City of Frankfurt, the Hessische Kulturstiftung and the Kulturstiftung der Länder. This purchase from the Rainer Werner Fassbinder Foundation has enabled the DFF to bring together its archives and collections in a central archive and study center in the immediate vicinity of the university and to make them available to the public in a much more convenient way than before. Students, researchers and the general public are able to make appointments and explore the entire holdings of the DFF in the reading room.

The DFF Archives contain important collections relating to various aspects of cinematic history and production. In addition to the collections and estates listed below, the DFF archives the papers of approximately 100 filmmakers, including the screenwriter Thea von Harbou, the actors Peter Lorre and Paul Wegener, the filmmaker Lotte Reiniger, the costume designer Helmut Holger, the directors Volker Schlöndorff, Rudolf Thome and Peter Fleischmann, and many more.

A selection of the collections held at the DFF:

• Archiv X Filme – Film Production
• Artur Brauner-Archiv – Film Production
• Gebrüder Diehl – Puppet animation film
• Rainer Werner Fassbinder – Director
• Oskar Fischinger – Avant-garde film
• Peter Gauhe – Film still photography
• Kurt Hoffmann – German post-war film
• Otto Hunte – Film Architecture
• Curd Jürgens – Actor
• Romuald Karmakar – Director
• Paul Kemp – Actor
• Irms Pauli – Costume design
• Maria Schell – Actor
• Niklaus Schilling – Director
• Volker Schlöndorff – Director, Producer
• Victor Vicas – Director, Cinematography and Production
• Luggi Waldleitner – Film production
• Robert Wiene – Writer, Director and Producer

Location

DFF Archive Center
DFF Fassbinder Center, Frankfurt
Eschersheimer Landstraße 121
60322 Frankfurt am Main
Metro: Holzhausenstraße

Opening hours (by appointment):
Tuesday-Friday 10a.m. -1 p.m. and 2-6 p.m.

Contact

Phone: +49 69 961 220 – 451
Email: sammlungen@dff.film

Dr. Eva Hielscher (Head of Collections)
Phone: +49 69 961 220 – 305
Email hielscher@dff.film

Isabelle Bastian (Curator)
Phone: +49 69 961 220 – 474
Email bastian@dff.film

Hans-Peter Reichmann (Senior Curator Fassbinder Collection)
Phone: +49 69 961 220 – 302
Email: reichmann@dff.film

Uschi Rühle (Collections)
Phone: +49 69 961 220 – 491
Email: ruehle@dff.film

Tim Heptner (Collections / Registry)
Email: heptner@dff.film

Simon Lames (Poster collection)
Phone: +49 69 961 220 – 472
Email plakatarchiv@dff.film

Access by appointment only.