The Ambassador of the Republic of Ecuador to Germany, H.E. Vicente Albornoz, visited the Ibero-Amerikanisches Institut (IAI), Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz (external link, opens in a new window) (Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation) on September 21, 2026, accompanied by Minister León Pablo Avilés, Consul in Berlin Jorge Fabara, and Cultural Attaché Natasha Canelos. The occasion was a generous donation from the Embassy of the Republic of Ecuador in Germany (external link, opens in a new window) to the Institute, which was officially presented to the IAI with the ceremonial signing of the donation agreement by H.E. the Ambassador and the IAI Director in the presence of the delegation of the Embassy and the head of the IAI’s Media Department, Ricarda Musser.
Over 600 media items on the country’s art, biographies, geography/geology, law, economics, history, literature, and politics now further enrich the IAI’s collections. The books and journals, dating from the 1980s to the present, complement the Institute’s diverse holdings on Ecuador. Through acquisitions, the IAI’s collection on this Latin American country grows by approximately 400 volumes annually; which underscores the significant scale of the embassy’s donation. The IAI received its most recent major donation of materials on Ecuador in 2024 following the Frankfurt Book Fair, where the country’s Chamber of Booksellers had exhibited.
Notable items in the IAI’s Library collection on Ecuador include cultural journals such as Espirales. La revista moderna (external link, opens in a new window) (Quito, 1928–1930) and Ciencias y Letras. Revista mensual ( (external link, opens in a new window)Guayaquil, 1912–1913). These historical issues are related to a completed externally funded project of the IAI and are also accessible in the Institute’s Digital collections. The IAI’s Special collections contain a wide variety of historical maps of Ecuador as well as original editions by the German geographer, geologist, and botanist Theodor Wolf, whose studies — conducted on official commission from the Ecuadorian government — were incorporated into his magnum opus Geografía y Geología del Ecuador (1892, Leipzig). Also worthy of note is the estate of the archaeologist and linguist Max Uhle (1856–1944), who is considered the founder of systematic archaeology in South America. In addition to numerous manuscripts, the collection also includes more than 5,000 historical photographs and more than 2,000 negatives from Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador held in the IAI’s collection.
The importance of international cooperation in science and culture, knowledge archives, and the networking of researchers is perhaps also evident in the fact that Max Uhle’s collection at the IAI includes a letter from Theodor Wolf addressed to him.
