The Graphics Collection, Photographic Archives and Paintings section, consisting of 190 linear metres and more than 280,000 individual pictures, is a self-contained and very important part of the collections of the Burgerbibliothek of Berne. It provides a comprehensive record of the history of Berne and the surrounding area, as well as of the patrician and bourgeois classes in Berne, in portraits painted up to the year 1900. Artists' bequests from the 19th to the 21st century give an insight into the Bernese and Swiss art world, with many opportunities for cross-referencing to archive material.
