Bequests of Tanzarchiv Leipzig and of Rudolf von Laban

Founded in 1957 by Kurt Petermann as a collection of traditionally transmitted folklore, the Tanzarchiv Leipzig evolved to a documentation center for all areas of dance. Until his death in 1984, Petermann established the archive as a recognized institution for dealing with dance as a cultural phenomenon and achieved the affiliation with the Academy of Arts of the GDR in 1975. Since 1993, the Tanzarchiv Leipzig has been a non-profit organization, founded by the University of Leipzig and the University of Music and Theater “Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy.” In 2011, the Tanzarchiv Leipzig was transferred to the responsibility of the University Library. The holdings include a specialist library and the collections of the Tanzarchiv Leipzig, which include film recordings from the second half of the 20th century, literature collections, bequests, posters, photographs, postcards, microfilms, and archival material.