A success story:

The Stuttgart Antiquarian Book Fair 1962–2025

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The history of the Stuttgart Antiquarian Book Fair began in 1963, when the Association of German Antiquarian Booksellers organised the first edition in the Old Palace, setting a milestone for the German and international antiquarian book trade. The fair in Stuttgart in particular quickly became an important meeting place for dealers, collectors and lovers of rare books, manuscripts, prints and graphic art; it also owes its international reputation to the continuous participation of exhibitors from France, England and the USA.

 

Over the decades, the fair changed, moved venues – from the Old Palace to the Haus der Wirtschaft, and later to the Liederhalle – and adapted to changing conditions. It experienced cultural highlights with legendary receptions, social celebrations and a growing crowd of fair visitors, who often even attended as families, passing on the collecting tradition from generation to generation. The 1970s and 1980s were characterised by steady growth, professionalisation and consolidation as the leading fair for bibliophile culture.

 

Even negative predictions about the supposed demise of the collectors' scene did not come true: the fascination with valuable books and prints remained alive, and the fair played a key role in maintaining interest in printed cultural assets in Germany and Europe. Since the 2000s, and especially with the introduction of new formats such as the prize for young collectors, digital catalogues and modern supporting programmes, the fair has successfully held its own in the age of digitalisation.

 

​​Since 2002, the Stuttgart Antiquarian Book Fair and Antiquaria Ludwigsburg have jointly hosted the opening event.

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Under the motto ‘Hunters and Collectors’, the Stuttgart Antiquarian Book Fair and Antiquaria in Ludwigsburg have jointly hosted an opening event at the Literaturhaus Stuttgart since 2002.

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The premiere featured a panel discussion with collectors Vincent Klink and Otto Jägersberg (a Michelin-starred chef and writer, respectively) and antiquarian booksellers Petra Bewer and Herbert Blank on the topic of ‘Book collecting – the second life of books’. In the years that followed, there were lectures by Reinhard Wittmann on ‘Reading Addiction in the 18th Century,’ by Ulrich Raulff on American collections and the end of the horse age, by Friedrich Pfäfflin on the publishing history of Levy & Müller, and by Irme Schaber on the history of photography since the 1920s. Discussions took place on the appearance of books with Kurt Weidemann – ‘Word and Effect’ –, with Annette Kulenkampff and Akka von Lucius on the book as a work of art, with art book publisher Gerd Hatje, with Hans Zischler or Annette Pehnt and Anna Katharina Hahn on ‘Failed Titles’. On one of the evenings, his friends remembered the antiquarian Horst Brandstätter, who died prematurely; Dirk Heißerer and Eberhard Köstler provided insights into the edition of Katia Mann's letters; Klaus Wagenbach, Michael Klett and Peter Nils Dorén discussed dust jackets.

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary in Stuttgart and the 25th anniversary in Ludwigsburg, Denis Scheck and Rainer Moritz asked: ‘How many books does a person need?’ Many, of course!

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