The Duchess Anna Amalia Library (German: ''Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek'') in
Weimar
Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...
, Germany, houses a major collection of German literature and historical documents. In 1991, the tricentennial of its opening to the public, the Ducal Library was renamed for
Duchess Anna Amalia. Today, the library is a public research library for literature and art history. The main focus is
German literature from the Classical and the late Romantic eras. The library was inscribed on the
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
World Heritage List
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...
as part of the
Classical Weimar site because of its testimony to the global cultural importance of Weimar during the late 18th and early 19th centuries during the
Weimar Classicism
Weimar Classicism (german: Weimarer Klassik) was a German literary and cultural movement, whose practitioners established a new humanism from the synthesis of ideas from Romanticism, Classicism, and the Age of Enlightenment. It was named after ...
movement.
In 2004 a fire destroyed the main wing and a substantial part of the collection;
restoration of salvaged volumes lasted until 2015.
Contents
The library contains:
* 1,000,000 books
* 2,000 medieval and early modern manuscripts
* 600 ancestral registers
* 10,000 maps
* 4,000 musical scores
The research library today has approximately 850,000 volumes with collection emphasis on the
German literature. Among its special collections is an important
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
collection of approximately 10,000 volumes, as well as a 16th-century Bible connected to
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation and the namesake of Lutherani ...
.
Building
The main building is the Green Castle (''Grünes Schloss''), which had been built between 1562 and 1565. The architect was
Nikolaus Gromann
Nikolaus Gromann (c. 1500 – 29 November 1566) was an architect of the German Renaissance who served at the court of John Frederick I, Elector of Saxony. He also worked for John Frederick's descendants residing in the cities of Weimar, Got ...
.
In 2001, construction began on a new multiple-floor facility to house some 1,000,000 books under the "Square of Democracy" (''Platz der Demokratie'') between the
Music University and the
Red and Yellow Castle. In its pre-renovation state, the building had structural flaws which endangered many valuable books and the special collections.
The new development is estimated to have cost €24 million and has an area of 6,300 m². The area is divided into upper and lower floors. The new building would connect the historical library building with the user areas of the reconstructed Red and Yellow Castle. The grand opening of the new complex is slated for February 2005.
History
Anna Amalia, Duchess of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, had the building converted into a library in 1761,
and in 1766 arranged for the courtly (''hoefische'') book collection to be moved into the library.
The Duchess, seeking a tutor for her son Duke
Carl August, hired
Christoph Martin Wieland, an important poet and noted translator of
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
. Wieland's Shakespeare volumes formed the core of the collection.
From an architectural standpoint, the library is world-famous for its oval
Rococo
Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...
hall featuring a portrait of Grand Duke Carl August.
One of the library's most famous patrons was
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as t ...
, who worked there from 1797 to 1832.
The library also includes the world's largest ''
Faust
Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust ( 1480–1540).
The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a pact with the Devil at a crossroa ...
'' collection. The Duchess's significant 13,000-volume music collection is also available in the library.
Fire of 2004
Part of the collection was burned in a fire on 2 September 2004, which destroyed 50,000 volumes
of which 12,500 are considered irreplaceable. Another 62,000 volumes were severely damaged.
However, some 6,000 historical works were saved, including the 1534 Luther Bible and a collection of
Alexander von Humboldt
Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 17696 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, naturalist, explorer, and proponent of Romantic philosophy and science. He was the younger brother of the Prussian minister, ...
's papers, by being passed from hand to hand out of the building.
Some 28,000 books in the building were rescued and so not affected by the fire.
Other items, like
Friedrich Schiller's death mask, suffered damage too, and 35 historic oil paintings were destroyed.
The fire came as a particular tragedy, in part because the collection was scheduled to move to another site in late October, little more than a month later. Some of the damaged books are being freeze-dried in
Leipzig
Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...
to save them from rotting as a result of water damage. Book restoration was scheduled to last at least until 2015.
In June 2005, it was announced that among the manuscripts that were out of the building at the time of the fire, and thus saved from damage, there was a hitherto undiscovered 1713
aria
In music, an aria ( Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompa ...
by
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wo ...
entitled "
Alles mit Gott und nichts ohn' ihn".
The library building was restored for $18.2 million and reopened at the end of October 2007 with some 60,000 volumes.
This includes the undamaged books, the first restored books and the replacement volumes obtained on the international antique book market, from other libraries, or by donation.
A
online databaselists the books the library is still seeking in order to replace volumes it lost.
References
External links
Duchess Anna Amalia Library– official site
Library Goes up in Flames, Destroying Literary Legacyat
Deutsche WelleRare books in German library fire BBC, 3 September 2004
German library fire burns precious books Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...
via nbcnews.com, 4 September 2004
Literary Treasures Lost in Fire at German Library ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'', 4 September 2004
German Library to Reopen ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'', 3 October 2007
Muslim Librarians Visit Germany: The Catalogues of the Queen of Sheba qantara.de, 29 April 2009
*360° Flash-Panoramas
2004: before the fire2004: after the fire
{{Authority control
Houses completed in 1565
Research libraries in Germany
Education in Weimar
Buildings and structures in Weimar
Culture in Weimar
2004 fires in Europe
Library fires
Classical Weimar World Heritage Site
1766 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire