Anne Frank's diaries in facsimile - the official Anne Frank House website

Anne Frank's Diaries in facsimile

Facsimilize means to replicate; to make an exact and detailed copy. In the case of the facsimilization of Anne Frank’s diaries, this meant to copy as closely as possible objects affected by handling and age.

These are different kinds of books Anne used for writing. Some contain torn-out pages and multicolored cross-outs in the texts as well as pasted-in pages, photos and letters fastened with glue and tape. A part of the diary is also made up of more than three hundred loose sheets of paper. Anne wrote and updated her diary entries in six so-called manuscripts. Foremost is the famous red and white diary, the autograph album where she kept her first diary entries from June 1942 to December of that same year. She continued her diary entries in two thick hardcover school exercise books, making her last notes there on August 1, 1944.

Diary entries

Anne finally edited and rewrote all her diary entries on a total of 360 loose sheets of thin copy paper. After World War II, Anne Frank’s diaries did undergo some material changes. Page numbers were added to the diary in pencil - most likely by Anne’s father, Otto Frank. Some diary pages yellowed more with age than others. The natural process of deterioration also affected the organic materials from which the original diary is actually made such as paper, cotton and linen.

The "favorite quotes" notebook and the "tales" book

An account book from her father’s office was filled by Anne with quotes she liked (commonly referred to as the "favorite quotes" notebook). She also wrote her own short stories in a larger account book (the so-called "tales" book).

A unique set

Read more about the facsimile project in the following brochure (Word-file).

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