In 2024 the music department of the Berlin State Library (Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin) in Germany started to make some of its approximatley 14,000 shellac records available online as sound files. Early Berlin operettas were the first with works by Paul Lincke (Das macht die Berliner Luft), who co-founded the genre and whose estate is kept in the the Staatsbibliothek. More information about the shellac collection of the Staatsbibliothek Berlin can be found here.
Meanwhile many more new audio recordings have been added, alongside Paul Lincke, attention now turns to Jean Gilbert (in english, if possible read the more detailled entry in German), who between 1910 and 1914 was one of the most frequently performed composers in German music theaters.
Here you find the relevant posts of the Berlin State Library, that provide further information about the composers and their works: Paul Lincke I, Paul Lincke II, Jean Gilbert I, Jean Gilbert II.
The files can be listened to directly and also be downloaded from the catalogue Stabikat: the user can choose between an original, unedited file in WAF format, an edited version (cleaned up to remove noise and crackling) in MP3 format, and a photo of the record label as a JPG file. Additionally to the shellac records, sheet music, libretti, letters, and photographs belonging to Paul Lincke and other artists are also preserved. Further extensive annotations provide information on the work and its impact. Using the catalogue will also show other further results in other german libraries using for example the names Fritzi Massary, Martin Kettner, Ida Perry, Emmy Wehlen, Karl Pfann.