Opening hours and contact

Monday to Saturday 10:00–18:00
info-dma@dnb.de
Phone +49 341 2271-150

Are you new to the German Music Archive? Staff in the music reading room will gladly give you a brief introduction on how to use it. Just come and talk to us during opening hours or make an appointment here:
info-dma@dnb.de.

If you have questions or are experiencing difficulties depositing mandatory copies with the German Music Archive, please call us on +49 341 2271-511 or send an e-mail to:
erwerbmedien@dnb.de.

Reading room

Photo: DNB, Fabian Witter

The holdings of the German Music Archive - sheet music, sound recordings and accompanying materials are made available for use in the music reading room. You also have the opportunity to listen to migrated music from more than 700,000 CDs 50,700 music cassettes and several thousand historic sound carriers. The reference library offers you access to 3,300 publications and current music journals.

Equipment: 18 workstations on two floors, a web-enabled computer, two laptop workstations, 12 high-quality audio and computer workstations (four of which are also equipped with piano keyboards) with access to the catalogue and all online resources, WiFi (DNB network and eduroam); headphones and tabletop music stands can be borrowed free of charge. The music reading room is accessible by lift.

Photo: DNB, Fabian Witter

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Audio and computer workstation in the music reading room

Pagination

: Workstations with pulled out piano keyboards …

Notes on using

You can order the majority of sound carriers and sheet music / notes from the collection via the catalogue. For any items that are not listed, please contact info-dma@dnb.de.

The media you order will be available the next working day (Monday – Friday). Any orders received after 12:00 on a Friday will be available on the following Monday. The order limit for monographs, journals, sound carriers and sheet music is 10 items. Specialist materials might be excluded from this rule and will be provided following a consultation with the staff. Individual media (e.g. in a risk state of preservation) may be subject to usage restrictions or be unavailable for viewing due to legal reasons.

Copies of any kind (smartphone photographs, scans, paper copies etc.) can be made as authorised by German copyright law. Sheet music / notes may not be copied.

Do you need help with your research, or are you interested in sheet music copies and sound carrier duplication? Please call us on +49 341 2271-150 or send an e-mail to: info-dma@dnb.de

In accordance with § 4 No. 7 of the German National Library’s Conditions of Use, the media must be treated with care, must not be damaged and the sorting must be maintained.

The German National Library’s Conditions of Use issued on 03.03.2025 apply, as does the German National Library’s Fee Schedule published on 03.03.2025.

Issue

The sound carriers and sheet music / notes you have ordered will be made available at the counter of the music reading room during the service and opening hours. Please return such media to the staff member behind the music reading room counter for further use, storage or return. These items are not made available, stored or returned via the media boxes.

Any sound carriers and sheet music / notes you order will be available in the music reading room for 14 days. If you do not view the media before this deadline expires, they will be automatically returned to the stacks. Provided the media have not been reserved, the lending period may be extended twice for 14 days at a time.

The requested media will be available no later than the next working day (Monday to Friday). Any media you wish to use on a Saturday must be ordered by 12:00 on Thursday.

Analogue sound carriers, such as shellac or vinyl records, are generally digitised for use at the reading room computers. If you wish to listen to analogue sound carriers on a Saturday, we must receive your order by 12:00 on Thursday at the latest. You can listen to the music on our audio CDs and music cassettes in digital format at the reading room computers.

Please send any queries to: info-dma@dnb.de

Please use our instruction videos about researching sound carriers and sheet music in the DNB catalogue, as well as about ordering and accessing such media:

Listening booth and digital grand piano

Photo: DNB, Stephan Jockel

Do you want to watch a music DVD or Blu-ray or enjoy our music in surround sound without headphones? Then use our listening booth!

All users who enjoy playing the piano can try out our high-end digital concert piano free of charge. The grand piano is available to all registered users of the German National Library, if you are looking for a place to practise the piano with access to more than a million items of sheet music / notes, you are warmly invited to visit us at the German Music Archive.

The listening booth and the digital grand piano can be used during the service hours Monday to Saturday, 10:00 –18:00.

Please send your booking enquiry to: info-dma@dnb.de
Phone: +49 341 2271-150

The vacant/occupied sign will show you whether you can use the listening booth on the spur of the moment. Don’t hesitate to talk to the staff member behind the counter in the music reading room.

FAQ Listening booth

Exhibitions and cultural offerings

Would you like to find out more about the music collection, the technical development of sound recordings and the German Music Archive's events?

Find out about our current programme of events. Please send enquiries for group tours of the music collection and exhibition to fuehrungen-dma@dnb.de.

We recommend our virtual exhibition "Klingendes Gedächtnis“ (Acoustic Memory) for visitors wishing to gain an insight into the history and tasks of the German National Library's German Music Archive.

Short guided tours of the music exhibition usually take place every first and third Thursday in the month as part of the series "Music at Noon – from Edison Cylinder to Blu-ray". Please take note of the displays on site and the information in the German National Library's events calendar.