Contents of the collection

 The University Library houses a collection of around 4,200 shellac records which were procured from private hands in the 1980s. It spans almost the entire production of 1950s popular music in the Federal German Republic. The Deutsche Rundfunkarchiv in Frankfurt am Main has since secured recordings of this unique collection.

Shellac records are the precursors of vinyl records. Shellac records have a diameter of 10 inches (approx. 25 cm) and are mostly inscribed in laterally cut grooves that can be read by any ordinary gramophone with a thick steel needle or by electric record players fitted with a special needle. Ten-inch shellac records played for just over 3 minutes per side and 12-inch shellac records a little over 4 minutes per side. The larger format was generally used for recording longer pieces of classical music.

Borrowing terms

Shellac records cannot be borrowed, but copies can be made on cassette and minidisk in the Multimedia Centre. The staff there can help you to find individual pieces of music and popular music hits.