Just as an update to this for anyone who cares, in taking out the remains of the shelving I discovered that the position of the crossbeams is adjustable, and they could’ve been shifted over and screwed into the wall studs. Instead they used more split-style drywall anchors.
That said, it looks like there were some parts screwed into the wall studs: three small hooks made of a different material that finally snapped after however many decades of use. Amazing that only three of them held it up for that long.
I swear, the replacement shelving is going to be so overdesigned…
There are ways to attach shelves to drywall alone, that can hold quite many kilograms. How were the shelves attached and how much stuff have you put on there?
I’ve also never heard of clothing shelves being referred to as load bearing.
