Theatre Collection Cologne (TWS)

Founded in the 1920s by theater scholar Carl Niessen (1890–1969) and now part of the Institute for Media Culture and Theater at the University of Cologne, the TWS is closely integrated into teaching with its extensive library. In addition to its diverse holdings, it offers students, researchers, and theater professionals a unique place to work. The TWS's holdings and collection materials are based on a broad concept of theater that includes not only classical theater forms but also a wide range of performative phenomena. The level of cataloging and research options vary between the individual collections and departments. Information on the holdings can be found at tws.phil-fak.uni-koeln.de.

Please note that the Theaterwissenschaftliche Sammlung is not a museum with a permanent exhibition, but rather an archive. However, the gates of Schloss Wahn are open to anyone who would like to work with the library and/or collection holdings between Monday and Friday. The Theater Studies Collection library consists of over 100,000 volumes, primarily dealing with German-language theater from the 16th century to the present. It is a reference library only, meaning that books cannot be borrowed. Requests for collection and archive holdings take about 14 days to process, and requests for books and journals in storage take about a week.