Prints

The Swiss National Library’s collection of prints includes image documents as well as iconographic, graphic and artistic works on geography, history, customs, culture, politics and people from Switzerland.

Ever since it was established, the Swiss National Library has collected historical views that document places and landscapes in Switzerland and how they have changed.

The National Library’s collection of Schweizer Kleinmeister contains depictions of places, landscapes and customs from every canton of Switzerland. The R. and A. Gugelmann Collection is the most remarkable part of it.

The Marc Gonthier archive offers unique insights into the process of a 20th century Swiss printmaker. The archive includes graphic prints, sketches and printing plates in copper and wood.

The drawings in the Adolf Pochon archive reflect the changes in historical military uniforms from the “ancien regime” to the regimentals after the founding of the Swiss federal state.

Hans Walty was a drawing instructor and painter with a passion for mushroom research. His archive is housed at the Swiss National Library’s Prints and Drawings Department.

The Emil Zbinden archive at the Prints and Drawings Department of the National Library testifies to the variety of his art and is an important source for anyone with an interest in his work.