Photothèque (Luxembourg)

The Photothèque (officially Photothèque de la Ville de Luxembourg) in Luxembourg City in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg houses several large collections of photographs of the city taken between 1855 and today. Open to the public, it is modelled on the photothèque at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris and has adopted the same classification system.

The Photothèque was opened in 1984 in order to display photographic collections previously stored in the municipal archives. Its objective was to provide a permanent showcase for photographs documenting the look of the city over the various periods of its urban development. Its design, equipment and method of operation were based on experience in France, specifically from Documentation française and the photothèque at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris. After operating for a period as part of the city's binding department at 63, rue du Fort Neipperg, in 1992 the increasingly popular Photothèque moved into specially built premises at the Cloche d'Or in the south of Luxembourg City.

The holdings acquired in 1985 are still considered the most important. They consist of Bernard Wolff's collection with historic views taken by various photographers during the final period of Luxembourg's fortifications, Batty Fischer's collection of photographs documenting the city's development in the 19th and 20th centuries, and a series of originals taken by Luxembourg-born photographer Edward Steichen.

Situated at 10, rue Eugène Ruppert, in the Cloche d'Or district of Luxembourg City, the Photothèque is open to the public on weekdays.

The holdings comprise some four million photographs taken between 1855 and the present day. They have been built up over the years through donations and bequests as well as by works specifically funded by the city. Most of the archives are on the ground floor while the first floor is occupied by the city's binding service as well as by the remaining archives.

Among the most important collections are those of Batty Fischer (some 10,000 documents showing the look of the city between 1890 and 1958); Théo Mey (some 400,000 photographs of the Grand Duchy in the 1950s and 1960s); the archives of Edouard Kutter and his son of the same name (comprising some 200,000 photographs of the Grand Ducal family and of news items from 1950 to 1980); Tony Krier (400,000 images of Luxembourg City, the Grand Duchy and events from 1939 to 1967); as well as a collection of some 500,000 negatives from Camille and Pol Aschman covering news items from 1935 to 1988.

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