Latest News
Shellac and vinyl records belonging to the Tonn family from Dortmund
Dr Karl-Wilhelm Tonn from Dortmund and his wife brought us 300 shellac and 100 vinyl records. Among them are many interesting albums with Scottish and English music, as Mrs. Tonn is British by birth and inherited the shellac records from her father. We would like to thank the Tonn family for their donation and promise to take good care of these black treasures.
New intern
From February 16 to 27, Sarah Bizon, who lives in Bremen, will be completing a two-week orientation internship with us. The trained office administrator is looking for a new professional challenge. We are happy to give her an insight into our everyday work and look forward to her support!
KKI closed for vacation from February 2 to 6
We are taking a short break in the first week of February and will then return to work with renewed energy and enthusiasm.
Four new donations in January
We regularly receive donations from collectors or their surviving relatives. In January alone, we received four smaller donations. Holger Veleba from Tespe sent us 140 CDs from the 1980s to the 2000s. Gerd Scheutzow from Bremen brought us vinyl records, music cassettes, and magazines from the 1970s and 1980s. Gerhard Zeyen from Offenbach-Hundheim sent us another package of sheet music from the Belle Époque. And Volker Seidel from Bremen bequeathed us music cassettes from the 1970s to the 1990s. We are deeply grateful to all donors. We appreciate their trust and will cherish the materials.
Small KKI exhibition on the history of the music cassette by Marcus Bühler
Marcus Bühler has just completed his long-term internship with us. From October 2025 to January 2026, he provided us with valuable support and devoted himself in particular to our music cassette collection. At the end of his internship, he created a small display case exhibition entitled "Rewind, Refind. The History of the Music Cassette. An Exhibition on the Cassette Collection of the Klaus Kuhnke Institute". The digital version of the exhibition can be viewed and read in our online magazine "S[æ]itenanschläge".
Sheet music collection from the HfK attic
Packed away in boxes in the attic of our university of the arts were many sheet music scores, some of which had been stored there for decades. Now, during a major reorganization, these boxes have been dusted off and opened. We also found a considerable number of rock, pop, tango, and jazz arrangements for various combo lineups. Of course, we immediately "snatched them up" and added them to our ever-growing sheet music collection.
FaMI intern in January
Ana-Lucia Deterding is in her third year of training to become a media and information services specialist (FaMI) at the municipal library in Nordenham. From January 12 to 23, she will be completing a two-week internship with us as part of her training. We are happy to give her an insight into our day-to-day work and look forward to her support!
Recently
Report about KKI on "buten un binnen" (Radio Bremen) on December 27.
On December 27, 2025, the daily local news program "buten un binnen" on the public broadcaster "Radio Bremen" reported on the 50th anniversary of the Klaus Kuhnke Institute. Julia Köhn's report includes original sound bites from the institute's director, Nico Thom, and provides current insights into the archive rooms.
Link to the video: https://youtu.be/JZH2BvGdKaM?si=vxem_PvjZU2m-hNB
KKI Music Exchange at the HfK Winter Market on December 14
The KKI is once again participating in the Winter Market at the University of the Arts Bremen this year. It will take place on Sunday, December 14, from 3 to 8 p.m. in the Music Department (Dechanatstraße 13-15). We will be offering our duplicates (vinyl records, CDs, books, etc.) for sale at bargain prices in the form of a music exchange. So if you're still looking for Christmas gifts, you're sure to find something here.
More information about the winter market can be found here: https://www.hfk-bremen.de/en/events/winter-market/14689
The Bremen Archives Working Group visits the KKI on December 9
Our esteemed colleagues from the Bremen Archives Working Group honored us with a visit and held their last meeting of the year at the KKI and the University of the Arts. Nico Thom gave the distinguished archivists a tour of the premises, showed them the collections, and reported on the KKI's 50th anniversary.
More information about the Bremen Archives Working Group: https://www.bremer-archive.de
Celebration of the 50th anniversary of KKI
2025 is a year of celebration for us. We are celebrating our 50th anniversary! In 1975, Klaus Kuhnke, Manfred Miller, and Peter Schulze founded the “Archive for Popular Music” in Bremen, which later became the “Klaus Kuhnke Institute for Popular Music.” Since 1991, i.e., for 34 years now, it has been part of the Bremen University of the Arts.
To mark this occasion, an anniversary celebration will be held on Tuesday, November 25, 2025, at 8 p.m. in the concert hall of the University of the Arts (Dechanatstraße 13-15).
The plan is to have a colorful and cheerful evening with good music and entertainment in a dignified setting. Musical greetings from the ranks of the HfK are planned, as well as humorous and, in some cases, thoughtful speeches. Friends, companions, and supporters of the KKI are cordially invited to attend. The event is, of course, open to anyone who is interested.
Continuing education student from Hamburg completes long-term internship
(October to January)
Marcus Bühler is currently completing a postgraduate study program in library and information management at the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (HAW). Prior to that, he completed a degree in musicology at the University of Hamburg and conducted research for his master's thesis at the KKI archive, among other places. He will now be doing a long-term internship with us between October 2025 and January 2026 as part of his continuing education. We are happy to give him an insight into our daily work and look forward to his support!