Ever since its assembly, the museum’s photo collection brings together any photographic material either obtained by the museum or produced here as repro-photography or as a result of the museum’s own work documentation. Acquisitions are made only in exceptional cases. Most of the material came to the museum from private hands, thanks to several donations. The stock of picture post cards showing places in Silesia, which has meanwhile increased to comprise many hundreds of objects, has become an important issue, which is continuously growing and is used for publications and exhibitions. Furthermore, private photo collections are of special documentary value, showing souvenir photos of living places and journeys as well as family pictures and images of people.

Worthwhile mentioning to be high-quality works of photography are the photos from the estate of Karl Franz Klose (1897 - 1984), a photographer born in Glatz (Klodzko), furthermore, a photo series from the year 1942 created by the photographer Hans Saebens (1895 - 1969) from Worpswede as well as a comprehensive selection of glass plates depicting  motifs from Silesia, coming from the Schöningh publishing house. Photographic material from the estates of individual artists, such as Max and Else Wislicenus, Wanda Bibrowicz, Hans Zimbal, Heinrich Tischler or Dorothea von Philipsborn, have been used for research, too.

Gerhart Hauptmann dictating. Photo: Hans Saebens, Worpswede, © SMG