Reklaitis Lithuanian Archive (LAR): research materials relating to the art and cultural history of Lithuania (15th century – 20th century), the estate of Povilas Reklaitis
The holdings of the Reklaitis Lithuanian Archive (LAR) were collected between 1945 and 1999 by the art historian and librarian Povilas Reklaitis (1922–1999). The archive focuses on the art, culture and history of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the German-Lithuanian connections in these areas. However, there are also sources on topics such as the issues and problems of minorities, the political upheavals of the 20th century, resettlement and German occupation of Lithuania between 1941 and 1944, and displaced persons. The LAR encompasses around 7,000 different media items spanning the period from the 16th to the 20th century, including books, periodicals, newspapers, maps, as well as pictorial materials like artworks, photographs, postcards, reprographic prints, and copies of historical works. In addition, there are a number of original manuscripts from the 17th – 19th centuries, as well as correspondence with prominent, mainly Lithuanian, figures from the worlds of science, art and journalism. Reklaitis also acquired other estates and smaller collections. Depending on the types of media, the materials have been distributed among the four departments of the Herder Institute. The LAR contains the largest collection of materials related to Lithuania within Germany.
Materials
Research online
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Reklaitis Lithuanian Archive in the OPAC
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Reklaitis Lithuanian Archive in the Image Catalog
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Reklaitis Lithuanian Archive in the Archive Database
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Reklaitis Lithuanian Archive in the IKAR - Database of old maps
Descriptions of superordinate collections
Descriptions of subordinate collections
Visit
Herder Institute for Historical Research on East Central Europe – Institute of the Leibniz AssociationISIL: DE-2718
Gisonenweg 5-735037 Marburg
Website
Referenced/represented regions
Baltic SeaBaltic StatesBelarusEast PrussiaGermanyGrand Duchy of LithuaniaKaunasKlaipėdaKlaipėda RegionLithuaniaPolandPolish–Lithuanian CommonwealthRigaVilnius...Topics
Art, GothicCivilization, BaroqueEarly modern ageEconomic historyForced migrationGeographyHistoricismHistoryHistory, ModernMiddle AgesMigrationModernismMonumentMonument of artPortraitPostmodernismReligionRenaissanceTopographyWorld War, 1914-1918...Referenced/represented persons/bodies
Augius, Paulius + Deveikė, Jonė + Domšaitis, Pranas + Ehret, Joseph + Gaigalaitis, Vilius + Gailius, Pranas + Grundmann, Guenther + Institut für Litauische Studien, USAIvinskis, Zenonas + Mikšys, Žibuntas + Preußische Staatsbibliothek Berlin + Puskepalaitis, Albertas + Reklaitis, Povilas + Rukša, Antanas + Saint Casimir Jagiellon + Witte, Wilhelm + ...Referenced/represented time period
ca. 7th until 20th centuryClassification
Architecture historyArt History and Art ScienceCulture historyInternational RelationsPopulation history and migration historyRegional and country history...Languages
DutchEnglishFrenchGermanItalianLatinLithuanianPolishRussian...Together with his family, Povilas Reklaitis participated in the resettlement of Lithuanian Germans to Poznan in 1941. This move was possible due to his Lithuanian-German mother. For the rest of his life, he lived in exile; after a series of short stays in Bamberg, Tübingen and Bonn, he finally settled in Marburg. Reklaitis had already started building up his collection before he left Poznan, so there is, for example, a “Posen Inventory” from 1942 (DSHI 150 ARBEIT LAR 009), while the first preserved LAR progress report dates from the year 1955. The title of the 1964 progress report, “The Annual Harvest of a Poor Exiled Lithuanian Collector”, clearly indicates how he viewed himself. His archive served, not only as a material basis for his numerous publications on Lithuanian art and cultural history, but also as an accessible resource for anyone interested in these areas. Reklaitis collected materials spanning a wide range of topics; of central importance was that the materials had a connection to Lithuania. In this way, the LAR also gives insights into how Reklaitis, as a Lithuanian living in exile, perceived his homeland and wanted to present it. Thanks to generous donations from the Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Association) and the Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft (German Donors’ Association for Sciences and Humanities), the Herder Institute was able to purchase the estate from Reklaitis’ widow in the spring of 2001. Subsequently, the various materials were distributed among the relevant work areas at the Herder Institute, such as the image archive, the map collection, and the document collection, before being cataloged and made available to researchers and the general public.
Creation/Production
| Time Event: | 16th century until 1999 |
| Place/Area: | Lithuania Germany Italy |
Aggregation/Collecting: Private archive/-collection
| Time Event: | 1939-1945 |
| Place/Area: | Kaunas Poznań |
| Creator of the collection: | Reklaitis, Povilas + |
Aggregation/Collecting: Private archive/-collection
| Time Event: | 1945-1953 |
| Place/Area: | Bamberg Tübingen |
| Creator of the collection: | Reklaitis, Povilas + |
Aggregation/Collecting: Private archive/-collection
| Time Event: | 1954 |
| Place/Area: | Bonn |
| Creator of the collection: | Reklaitis, Povilas + |
Aggregation/Collecting: Private archive/-collection
| Time Event: | 1955-1999 |
| Place/Area: | Weimar-Niederweimar |
| Creator of the collection: | Reklaitis, Povilas + |
Provenance
| Time Event: | 1999-2001 |
| Place/Area: | Weimar-Niederweimar |
| Owner: | Private citizen + |
Acquisition/Transfer of Custody to Herder Institute: Purchase
| Time Event: | 2001 |
| Place/Area: | Marburg |
| Lessor of the collection: | Private citizen + |
| Collection recipient: | Herder Institute for Historical Research on East Central Europe - Institute of the Leibniz Association + |
Literature
ARTHUR HERMANN, ANNEMARIE LEPA, CHRISTINA NIKOLAJEW ET. AL. (Hrsg.): Annaberger Annalen über Litauen und deutsch-litauische Beziehungen , Bammental 2004-. [PPN: 404782620]
OPAC
HeBIS Discovery System (HDS)
DALIA GARGASAITė: Dailėtyrininkas ir bibliofilas Povilas Reklaitis 1997. [PPN: 392963531]
HeBIS Discovery System (HDS)
POVILAS REKLAITIS: Prarastosios Lietuvos pėdsakų beieškant : straipsniai iš Lietuvos dailės ir kultūros istorijos, rašyti 1954 - 1990 m. VokietijojeVilnius 1999. [PPN: 08494529X]
OPAC
HeBIS Discovery System (HDS)
Kurse/Workshops
Archival Collections in Exile – Making and Remaking Images of Home Abroad, Herder Institute for Historical Research on East Central Europe/Institute of Contemporary History Munich/Leibniz Research Alliance Historical Authenticity, Feb 23–24, 2016 Website
Links
Peter Wörster: Dr. Povilas Reklaitis und sein Litauen-Archiv, in: Annaberger Annalen, 2004, Nr. 12, S. 211-238 Website
| ID: | DE-2718/HI000012 |
| Record Type: | Group/Holding |
| List title: | Reklaitis Lithuanian Archive (LAR): research materials relating to the art and cultural history of Lithuania (15th century – 20th century), the estate of Povilas Reklaitis |
| Title: | Reklaitis Lithuanian Archive (LAR): research materials relating to the art and cultural history of Lithuania (15th century – 20th century), the estate of Povilas Reklaitis |
| Short Title: | Holdings of the Reklaitis Lithuanian Archive (LAR) |
| Source/Rights: | Herder Institute for Historical Research on East Central Europe – Institute of the Leibniz Association [ISIL: DE-2718] + |
| Image: | Stamp of Povilas Reklaitis on the back of a photograph, Scan, Image Archive, Inventory number: 210181, Rights of use: Herder Institute, Marburg |
| Author: | Bauer, Elke |
| Author: | Coburger, Antje |
| Reviser/Editor: | Bergholde-Wolf, Agnese |
| Export date: | 2019-03-05 |
