His inspiring spirit and encouraging generosity run through the “Gerhard Wolf Room”, not only in the form of the bookshelves full of charm (the label “Volkseigentum” (People’s property) is still legible on one cupboard), his desk and the graphics of Christa Wolf’s Medea. Voices. The new “Christa Wolf Room” with the desk, books and shelves of her last study, East and West German editions of her works, a collection of reading copies with traces of use that are informative in terms of contemporary and literary history and the stock of licensed editions in more than 50 languages also became a much-used seminar, research and event venue immediately after the move.

A conceptually essential idea was to preserve the last arrangement of the books as far as possible. After all, the very location of an Anna Seghers exile edition in the immediate vicinity of Christa Wolf’s desk promises insights into a poetic relationship of tradition. Why the various Hölderlin editions ended up in Gerhard Wolf’s study can be deduced from the essay volume Ins Ungebundene gehet eine Sehnsucht. Projektionsraum Romantik (1985). A couple’s library that has grown over six decades follows its own laws.
The prerequisite for securing the arrangement of the shelves was, on the one hand, the photographic documentation of the shelves (partly in 3D) and, on the other hand, a detailed indexing of each item.