Museum of Modern Literature

The opening of the Museum of Modern Literature in 2006 put a third major institution on the Schillerhöhe. The more than 600-sqm permanent exhibition in the LiMo displays the most prized and curious items from the inventories of the German Literature Archive on the twentieth century and the present day. For instance, it has manuscripts of Kafka's "Trial", Döblin's "Berlin Alexanderplatz", Hesse's "Steppenwolf" or Kästner's "Emil and the Detectives",  as well as certificates, identification cards, notebooks, photo albums, favourite books and mementos of poets and philosophers.

Once inside the LiMo, visitors become active researchers. The specially developed Multimedia Marbach Museum guide "M3" helps visitors explore the world of literature. It leads them on various routes through the exhibition and explains the exhibits.

The permanent exhibition is supplemented by an interactive reading room, up-to-date installations on contemporary literature by prominent curators, a wide range of different temporary exhibitions, literary events and museum education, and a literature laboratory for children and pupils.

The architecture of the LiMo is also remarkable: because paper and ink cannot abide more than 50 lux without discolouring and fading, the literature museum, designed by David Chipperfield Architects with Alexander Schwarz as Project Architect, is devised specifically for displaying the sensitive and usually inconspicuously flat exhibits. Moreover, the building offers surprising views of the landscape along the Neckar – as does the literature. In 2007 it was awarded the Stirling Prize, Britain's highest honour for architecture.

Opening hours

StuttCard Bonus

Free day ticket/combined ticket Modern Literature Museum and Schiller National Museum