Oskar von Forckenbeck


The collector and private scholar Oskar von Forckenbeck (1822-98) founded Germany’s first Newspaper Museum in Aachen. He amassed his collection of newspapers on several world tours. His first selection was exhibited in February 1886 in Aachen’s Suermondt Museum. It is said that he discovered his passion for collecting newspapers in 1854 on the canals of Groningen. He was contemplating a newspaper that was lying on the bottom of a boat when it suddenly hit him that newspapers were far too valuable to be used as wrapping paper for fish. After Forckenbeck’s death, his widow bequeathed the 80,000 newspapers and 1,500 books of his collection to the City of Aachen.

Probably Aachens oldest residential house

One of the world's largest collection of newspapers, with well over 200,000 specimens

Bad news is good news, good news is no news.

LIBRARY
More than 3000 volumes