“A white spot on my map of undiscovered places
of undiscovered places – for a very long time this was
the library of the MARKK. I would never have suspected
what a wealth of unique treasures is hidden there.”

Bärbel (user of the library since 2013)

Welcome to the smallest and most beautiful reading room in the city!

In total, about 90,000 books and 200 current periodicals invite you to research and discover. Click here to go to our library catalog. Through the exchange of publications with numerous libraries around the world, a particularly multilingual collection has developed. You will find literature in English and Spanish, followed by Korean, Chinese and Japanese. But also less common languages like Pashto, Farsi or Iwrith are represented in our library. In many cases, these are books that can only be found in our library in Germany.

The library has been located in its historical premises since 1912. However, the foundation of the library was laid as early as around 1850. In connection with the first collection of ethnographic objects in the municipal library, a library of travelogues dating back to the 16th century was already established at that time.
For the research of the MARKK’s object collection today, we are constantly expanding our holdings with current literature. The focus is on non-European cultures and arts.
We offer a guided tour to all interested persons on the first Thursday of each month by appointment.
A computer is available for your research, and the library team will be happy to assist you! In addition, you can use the workstations, the scanner and copier as well as our wi-fi.