The collection of the Jazzinstitut Darmstadt is based on donations, material inheritances, and to an much fewer extend, acquisitions from different provenance. At this point we will try to give you some information, just in case you are thinking to offer parts of your private collection to the Jazzinstitut Darmstadt.

We are happy about every offered donation. With each offer we check to what extent it fills larger gaps in our collection (which can never be complete but should cover as broad a spectrum as possible). We are most interested in so-called "grey literature", e.g. publications in small editions, unpublished manuscripts, correspondence from or with musicians, handwritten sheet music or arrangements, photos especially from the private sector, posters of all kinds, research notes or collections of essays for research purposes, scrapbooks, i.e. collections of newspaper clippings and the like.

If you own material of any kind, we would be pleased to hear from you. We do not arrange our collection according to provenance, but according to the principle of pertinence. This means that private collections given to us do not end up physically on our shelves by provenance, but will be sorted into the larger collection after being reviewed and cataloged. In order to be able to assess whether parts of your collection are suitable for the archive of the Jazzinstitut, a preliminary listing of the offered material helps us immensely, no matter whether it is in the form of a computer-database or in handwritten lists. Photos of both the scope and individual parts of the collection are just as helpful as measurements of the scope, preferably by "shelf meters," i.e., by the space that the records, books, folders require next to each other on the shelf.

We are a small institution and therefore cannot look at every collection personally and on site. However, if the offered collection suggests a useful addition to our archive, we are certainly willing to view it.

The Jazzinstitut Darmstadt does not have a separate acquisition budget for collections. Every acquisition of a collection will means the obligation to record it, to keep it accessible, to digitize it if necessary, and to maintain it for research and posterity. As a municipal institution, we work, like other public institutes, with budget titles established from year to year, among which are also those that are intended to ensure the care and preservation of the collection assets entrusted to us.

If we are unable to take over your collection, we will be happy to advise you on finding any interested parties.