The Prints and Drawings Department (PDD) of the Swiss National Library

The mandate of the Swiss National Library’s Prints and Drawings Department is to archive Switzerland’s cultural heritage in pictorial form.

The Prints and Drawings Department collects views of landscapes and places, portraits, prints from the 17th to the 21st centuries, Schweizer Kleinmeister, photographs, picture postcards, posters, editions, artists’ books and artists’ archives.

The Prints and Drawings Department of the National Library holds collections of prints, photographs, picture postcards, posters, editions and artists’ books as well as various artists’ archives from the 19th century to the present day.

Documents from the Prints and Drawings Department and the Federal Archives of Historic Monuments can be consulted free of charge. You can conduct some of your research online, but often you will need to contact the library or visit us on site.

The National Library stages exhibitions presenting the Prints and Drawings Department to the public at large.

The Swiss National Library stages periodic events focusing on the Prints and Drawings Department.

Publications from the National Library’s Prints and Drawings Department, on topics such as the research project on Swiss artists’ books (1880–2015) in association with the University of Lausanne.

Research work in the National Library’s Prints and Drawings Department focuses on the collections and artists’ archives it holds.

The history of the Prints and Drawings Department begins in 1895 with the foundation of the Swiss National Library. From the outset, its remit was to collect not just books but also image documents.