German Archive of Culinary Art
Table of contents
Blick ins Food Studio der SLUB Dresden, SLUB Dresden Ramona Ahlers-Bergner
The German Archive of Culinary Art in Dresden is the largest publicly accessible collection of cookbooks, menus and menus in the German-speaking world. The Saxon State and University Library Dresden (SLUB) and the TUD Dresden University of Technology (TUD) jointly founded it in October 2022. The SLUB's extensive and unique culinary collection with manuscripts, books and journals as well as menu cards, commercial art, photographs and audiovisual media is one of the most important of its kind. Highlights include collections by Ernst Birsner, Walter Putz, Wolfram Siebeck and Eckart Witzigmann. The Culinary Collection forms the basis for interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research in the humanities, cultural and natural sciences on the topics of culinary art, table culture and nutritional science and their impact on culture and society, as has already been successfully established at the TUD. In future, the extensive holdings of the German Archive of Culinary Arts will be digitally indexed in a project funded by the German Research Foundation and presented on an online portal. This will make them available to both the scientific community and the general public free of charge.
Katrin Stump, Ursula Staudinger und Andreas Rutz zur Gründung des Deutschen Archivs der Kulinarik
With events, exhibitions, participatory formats and publications, the SLUB and TUD are revitalizing the scientific and social discourse on the topics of nutrition and culinary arts and thus establishing the German Archive of Culinary Arts as a central stakeholder for research, teaching and knowledge transfer to society.
SLUB press release on the founding of the archive
Press review and media coverage of the foundation (selection)
Jakob Strobel y Serra: Die Wahrheit liegt auf dem Teller, in: FAZ, Nr. 30 vom 04.02.2022, S. Z 3.
Felix Denk: Gerichte mit Geschichte. In Dresden eröffnet das Deutsche Archiv der Kulinarik, in: Tagesspiegel vom 09.11.2022. Zum Online-Artikel
Jan-Dirk Franke: In Dresden wird jetzt die Kochkultur erforscht, in: Freie Presse vom 10.10.2022. Zum Online-Artikel
Neues Archiv für Kochkunst und deutsche Esskultur in Dresden, in: Zeit Online vom 10.10.2022. Zum Online-Artikel
Deutsches Archiv der Kulinarik gegründet, in: Deutschlandfunk Kultur vom 10.10.2022. Zum Online-Beitrag
Ein gefundenes Fressen. „Deutsches Archiv der Kulinarik“ in Dresden, in: Deutschlandfunk Kultur vom 10.10.2022. Zum Audio-Beitrag
Heike Schwarzer: Deutschlandweit einzigartig. Deutsches Archiv der Kulinarik in Dresden gegründet, in: MDR Kultur vom 11.10.2022. Zum Online-Artikel
Speisekarten und Kochbücher: Deutsches Archiv der Kulinarik in Dresden gegründet, in: SWR vom 11.10.2022. Zum Online-Artikel
Deutsches Archiv der Kulinarik gegründet, in: WDR-Mediathek vom 10.10.2022. Zum Online-Artikel
SLUB und TU Dresden gründen Deutsches Archiv der Kulinarik, in: Kulturstiftung der Länder. Zum Online-Artikel
Latest news
German Archive of Culinary Arts receives important Austrian cookbook library from Christoph Wagner
The Deutsches Archiv der Kulinarik is taking over the cookbook collection of Christoph Wagner, one of Austria's most important restaurant critics and cookbook authors. The family of the publicist, who died in 2010, is donating the collection to the archive, which was founded by the Saxon State and University Library Dresden (SLUB) and the TUD Dresden University of Technology (TUD). In addition to around 3,000 books, the collection also contains menus and menus from various countries and handwritten notes on research and travel, such as so-called test meals - i.e. food reviews - in restaurants, wine tastings or reviews of various products such as cheese, meat, etc. To the press release
Exhibition: The sweet art - A cultural history of confectionery and desserts
On June 12, 2025, the SLUB Dresden and the TU Dresden ceremoniously opened the first exhibition of the German Archive of Culinary Arts entitled "The Sweet Art - A Cultural History of Confectionery and Desserts". In his keynote speech, top chef Johann Lafer paid tribute to the importance of artisan desserts. The exhibition can be seen free of charge at the SLUB Dresden Book Museum from June 13, 2025 to January 17, 2026.
Further information on the opening can be found in the TU Dresden press release.
Information about the exhibition is available on the SLUB website.
Conference: The beginning of culinary modernity.
200 years of the "Spirit of the Art of Cookery" by Carl Friedrich von Rumohr
TU-Rektorin Ursula Staudinger bei der Rumohr-Tagung
To mark the founding of the German Archive of Culinary Art, the Chair of Saxon Regional History at TU Dresden and the SLUB Dresden jointly organized the conference Der Beginn der kulinarischen Moderne. 200 years of the "Spirit of the Art of Cookery" by Carl Friedrich von Rumohr. In addition, the exhibition Eckart Witzigmanns Kalbsbries Rumohr was opened as part of the opening of the archive in the presence of Eckart Witzigmann. Read more