The core collection of the Joseph Beuys Archive consists of archival materials that Beuys himself kept and, until his death, entrusted to the art collectors Hans and Franz-Joseph van der Grinten for safekeeping and future cataloging. These include approximately 35,000 letters addressed to Joseph Beuys from the years 1950 to 1986, as well as a comprehensive collection of newspaper articles and printed materials related to the artist and his exhibitions. The collection is supplemented by portions of Beuys’s private library, comprising books and international journals spanning various disciplines.

As a dynamic research institute, the archive is dedicated to the scholarly cataloging, contextualization, and expansion of its holdings through new materials, including estates and contemporary documents. With the unique estate of the artist and performance photographer Ute Klophaus, the archive is also a significant center for research on performative art and action art from the 1960s to the 1980s.