The Prints and Drawings Department of the National Library collects analogue photography, daguerreotypes, negatives and slides with a particular emphasis on views of places and special topics related to Switzerland in the 19th to 21st centuries.
The Prints and Drawings Department of the National Library collects portraits of important personalities in the social, cultural and artistic life of Switzerland and other countries, from the early days of photography to the present day.
The Photoglob-Wehrli archive brings to life the picture postcard boom that took place in the early days of tourism from the mid-19th century. It consists of photographic documents from all stages of production.
Swiss writer, journalist and photographer Annemarie Schwarzenbach (1908–1942) left an extensive collection of important photographs in addition to her literary work.
Around 130 images by the ballooning pioneer Eduard Spelterini from the period between 1893 and 1924 are preserved in the Swiss National Library’s Prints and Drawings Department. 120 Spelterini pictures are available for unrestricted use on Wikimedia Commons.
The Niklaus Stauss photo archive is one of the largest private photography collections in Switzerland. Its pictures provide an insight into social, cultural and artistic life in Switzerland and beyond.
At the turn of the 20th century, Max van Berchem from Geneva photographed buildings of art-historical importance in Switzerland. His photographic collection comprised pictures of towns, villages and buildings from 1898 to 1907.
The silk manufacturer Rudolf Zinggeler took photos mainly in the Swiss cantons of Valais, Ticino and Graubünden between 1890 and 1936. His work depicts towns and villages, landscapes and day-to-day rural life.
The photographer and natural scientist Andreas Züst (1947–2000) was a legendary figure in the Swiss art world. The archive in the Prints and Drawings Department documents his highly diverse work.
