The Robert Walser Archive maintains extremely important manuscript holdings in the area of modernist literature, in particular the literary estates of Robert Walser and Carl Seelig. The Robert Walser Archive is dedicated to the protection, cataloguing, research and dissemination of these estates and seeks, where possible, to expand its holdings and document as comprehensively as possible the scholarship and influence of the authors’ lives and works. In order to perform the aforementioned duties in a professional manner, the Robert Walser Archive works closely with the Swiss Literary Archive SLA at the Swiss National Library.

To guarantee state-of-the-art protection, preservation and analysis, Robert Walser’s and Carl Seelig’s autographs (manuscripts and letters) have been deposited and stored in the Swiss Literary Archive SLA at the Swiss National Library since 2009. Requests regarding the estates must be made directly to the Robert Walser Center; to consult the documents, please contact Dr. Lukas Gloor at least two weeks in advance.

Catalogued in 2008/2009, the estate of Emmy Hennings / Hugo Ball was deposited in the Robert Walser Archive until 2009. In autumn/winter 2009, it was transferred and deposited in the Swiss Literary Archive SLA at the Swiss National Library in Bern. The estate was acquired by the SLA in 2012, where the holdings can now be consulted (see Online-Inventar). For information and questions, please contact the staff responsible for the estate: Dr. Magnus Wieland (arch.lit(at)nb.admin.ch).

The partial estate of Friedrich Glauser (Max Müller), the estate of Josef and Thomas Halperin, as well as the archive of the Steinberg-Verlag, were catalogued in 2009/2010 and deposited by the Robert Walser Foundation in the Swiss Literary Archive SLA at the Swiss National Library in Bern. The holdings are managed by the SLA, where they can be consulted (requests and questions should be directed to arch.lit(at)nb.admin.ch, see Online-Inventar Glauser, Online-Inventar Halperin).

The estate of Ossip Kalenter has been catalogued and analyzed, and is deposited in the Swiss Literary Archive SLA at the Swiss National Library in Bern.