James Krüss Literary Estate


The complete authorial estate of James Krüss (1926-1997) was given by the James Krüss community of heirs to the International Youth Library in 1998.

Prominent individual works from the estate have been on public display since 2001, housed in their very own literary museum known as the James Krüss Tower, which is located on the grounds of the International Youth Library.

James Krüss’ literary estate contains sketches, manuscripts and typescripts of his texts for children and adolescents, his poems, stage and radio works, plays, translations, critical essays, linguistic, geographical, historical and sociological studies as well as his written correspondence, diaries, awards documentation, his own drawings and audio-visual materials. Included among the manuscripts are versions of “Mein Urgroßvater und ich” (My great-grandfather and I), “Der A-B-Zoo” as well as the “Hummerklippen” (Lobster Cliffs) series.

The literary estate can be researched using Kalliope, the central union catalogue for literary estates and hand-written manuscripts. With the exception of his diaries, which are not publicly accessible due privacy protection laws, the entire literary estate is accessible to the interested public and for research.