The IISH poster collection

Posters have been collected at the International Institute of Social History in Amsterdam since it was established in 1935. About 118,000 are presently conserved there, published by political parties, trade unions, action committees, and all kinds of other committees. The collection, which is the largest in the Netherlands, includes lovely posters from the Soviet Union, from Germany before 1933, from the Spanish Civil War (1936-1938), from China, from the Paris student uprising of May 1968 and of course from the Netherlands (nearly 30,000 altogether).

The posters are available for research, exhibitions, and for use as illustrations. All posters are accessible through search.socialhistory.org

Most posters arrive at the IISH as gifts from organizations and persons who entrust their papers and archives to the institute. But we collect actively as well, both through exchanges with other institutions and collectors and occasionally even through purchases.

For additional information about the poster collection, see The Poster Collection. An additional guide. You may also contact Huub Sanders, email: .