The German Schiller Association

With about 2000 members, the German Schiller Association (Deutsche Schillergesellschaft – DSG) is one of the largest literary associations in Germany and supporting association of the German Literature Archive Marbach. Its goal is to bring together readers and scholars from the entire world and to make literature come alive.

The association was founded in 1895 as the Swabian Schiller Society (Schwäbischer Schillerverein), with the intention of erecting a museum and archive for Schiller in his native town Marbach. As a memorial and research center for surviving artifacts and mementos from Schiller’s life, it was intended to serve simultaneously as an archive for other famous Swabian authors and poets. The archives of Wieland, Schubart, Schiller, Hölderlin, Kerner, Uhland and Mörike were at the center of the research projects, and artifacts from their lives and literary careers were shown in various exhibitions. Over the years, the national significance of Marbach grew and the collections increased in more recent literature. The new name for the association in 1947 and the founding of the German Literature Archive in 1955 reflect this development.