The library of the German Center for Art History provides support for research, teaching, study, as well as other scholarly activities and is a source of specialized information. In accordance with the current terms of use (in german), the library is open to all interested visitors.

Visitors are required to log in at each visit. Upon presentation of identification, visitors may independently consult the entire collection housed in the open stacks. The library, which can be used free of charge, is a strict reference library and, as such, does not circulate its holdings. Materials can, however, be temporarily reserved for reference in the library (limited to 10 resources at a time).

Coats, umbrellas, and bags (including laptop bags) must be stored in the cloakroom or in a personal locker. Use of a locker requires a 1-Euro coin deposit.

Minuscules, rarities, and other resources held in the stacks can be ordered at the library reception desk in the reading room (in OPAC, listed under the 2^nd signature and/or the location U3/U4/U5/Rara/Magazin/Atelier). However, to insure the availability of materials on a specific day, we suggest ordering ahead via email: bibliothek@dfk-paris.org. This also applies to materials temporarily reserved by the staff and for use by projects, which may only be made available upon written request (location HA/HAP).

The library provides its visitors with 14 workstations, which are reserved and managed independently by the readers via the online reservation system Affluences. Twelve workstations are located in the reading room on the first floor (“place de travail 01” to “place de travail 12”) and two workstations in the open access area on the fourth floor of the DFK Paris (“place de travail 13” and “place de travail 14”). On the 1^st floor, the journal reading room is also available as a possible group workroom for a maximum of 4 participants, which must be pre-booked separately via the online reservation system; all participants in these group work meetings must have an individual workstation reservation for the day. 

You have a free Wi-Fi access in every floor of the library.

The library does not offer photocopying or printing services. However, the book scanner may be used independently and is free of charge; for this, visitors should bring their own USB flash drive.

The DFK Paris is a member of the kubikat Art Libraries Network composed of four German non-university affiliated research institutes: the German Art Historical Institute in Florence (Max Planck Institute), the Central Institute for Art History (ZI) in Munich, the Bibliotheca Hertziana in Rome (Max Planck Institute for Art History), and the German Center for Art History (DFK Paris). For the DFK Paris, library system support for our Aleph Catalog is provided by qualified librarian Cora G. Molloy / “Bibliotheksservice.”

At the library, in addition to consulting the library catalog (OPAC), visitors can also search through select specialized databases and image databases, lexica, e-journals, and specialist portals via our website.

For more information on the library, contact: bibliothek@dfk-paris.org.