Visual Archive Islamic World

The visual archive (Bildarchiv der islamischen Welt) was established in cooperation between the University of Paris VI – Sorbonne (Professor Marianne Barrucand) and the University of Bamberg (Islamic Art and Archaeology; Turkish Studies).

In Bamberg, the archive holdings comprise c. 50,000 colour slides and 60,000 image files of architecture in the Islamic World as well as objects in museums, collections and libraries. The geographical focus is on the eastern parts of the Islamic World (Egypt to Central Asia).

With the acquisition of the slide collection of Kurt and Hanna Erdmann, an important archive of older slides became part of the archive in Bamberg. Some parts of this body of images go back tot he 1960s, and many photographs are important documents of historical conditions of monuments. A large number of photographs was provided from the 1980s onwards by various donors, among them university teachers and students in Bamberg.

Images are available for teaching and research purposes. For user requests please contact Islamic Art and Archaeology at the University of Bamberg.