Public Library and Archive in Kneiphof Stamp of the library The Königsberg Public Library (german: Stadtbibliothek Königsberg) was a

public library A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil service, civil servants. There are ...

Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was named ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Background

The library developed from the personal collection of Johannes Poliander, who donated it to the town council of

Altstadt ''Altstadt'' is the German language word for "old town", and generally refers to the historical town or city centre within the old town or city wall, in contrast to younger suburbs outside. '' Neustadt'' (new town), the logical opposite of ''Alt ...

in 1541. J. Lomoller donated 300 predominantly legal works in 1594. It was housed in Altstadt's pauper house after its construction in 1628. To it was added the collection of vice-mayor Heinrich Bartsch (1627–1702). His son, city secretary Heinrich Bartsch Jr., created a librarian position in 1714, made the collection public in 1718, and added his own Bible collection. The first librarians were

Johann Jakob Quandt Johann Jakob Quandt ( lt, Jonas Jokūbas Kvantas; 27 March 1686 in Königsberg – 17 January 1772 in Königsberg) was a German orthodox Lutheran theologian, and professor of theology in Königsberg. He opposed Pietism, but sympathized with Wolff ...

and Gottlieb Siegfried Bayer. The library moved from the pauper house to the Altstadt Latin school in 1737 and then to the

Altstadt Town Hall The Altstadt Town Hall (german: Altstädtisches Rathaus) was the town hall of Altstadt, first an independent town and later a quarter of Königsberg, Germany. History The town hall was located along the Altstädtischer Markt, a market near the ...

in 1773. In 1810 it moved to the Königshaus in

Neue Sorge Königstraße Neue Sorge, also known as Königstraße or Königstrasse after its main boulevard, was a quarter of eastern Königsberg, Germany. Its territory is now part of the Leningradsky District of Kaliningrad, Russia. Etymology The origina ...

, which also housed the royal and university libraries at the same time.

Theodor Gottlieb von Hippel the Younger Theodor Gottlieb Hippel, from 1790 von Hippel (13 December 1775, in Zheleznodorozhny, Kaliningrad Oblast, Gerdauen ow Zheleznodorozhny, Kaliningrad Oblast, Zheleznodorozhny– 10 June 1843, in Bydgoszcz, Bromberg) was a Prussian statesman, t ...

donated another collection in 1837.

Into the 20th Century

By the second half of the 19th century, the public library was disorganized and in financial difficulties. It moved to the old campus of the

University of Königsberg The University of Königsberg (german: Albertus-Universität Königsberg) was the university of Königsberg in East Prussia. It was founded in 1544 as the world's second Protestant academy (after the University of Marburg) by Duke Albert of Prussi ...

Kneiphof Coat of arms of Kneiphof Postcard of Kneiphöfsche Langgasse Reconstruction of Kneiphof in Kaliningrad's museum Kneiphof (russian: Кнайпхоф; pl, Knipawa; lt, Knypava) was a quarter of central Königsberg (Kaliningrad). During the M ...

in 1875 and was administered by August Wittich from 1875 to 1897. The councilor August Wilhelm Hensche donated his private collection in 1889. When the magistrate considered closing the library, Wittich focused on reorganizing the library and hiring a chief librarian, Ernst Seraphim. Seraphim energetically developed the library after Wittich's 1897 death and had the library rebuilt. Rudolf Reicke donated 2,150 volumes to the library in 1907. Two years later Seraphim and the library began publishing seven volumes of scientific publications with the title ''Mitteilungen''.

Directors and destruction

Directors of the library included pastor Michael Lilienthal (1728 to 1748),

Christian Jakob Kraus Christian Jakob Kraus (; 27 July 1753 – 25 August 1807) was a German comparative and historical linguist. Biography A native of Osterode (East Prussia), Kraus studied at the universities of Königsberg and Göttingen. In 1782 he became a pr ...

(1786 to 1804), Friedrich Adolf Meckelburg (1844 to 1875), August Wittich (1875 to 1897), Ernst Seraphim (from 1900), Christian Krollmann (from 1923), and

Fritz Gause Fritz Gause (4 August 1893 – 24 December 1973) was a German historian, archivist, and curator described as the last great historian of his native city, Königsberg (now Kaliningrad), East Prussia. Gause's most important work was his three-vol ...

(from 1938). In 1939 the library contained 106,000 volumes. The Königsberg Public Library was destroyed in August 1944 during the

Bombing of Königsberg in World War II The bombing of Königsberg was a series of attacks made on the city of Königsberg in East Prussia during World War II. The Soviet Air Force had made several raids on the city since 1941. Extensive attacks carried out by RAF Bomber Command destro ...

References

* * 1541 establishments in Europe 1945 disestablishments in Germany Buildings and structures in Germany destroyed during World War II

Public Library A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil service, civil servants. There are ...

Libraries in Germany Defunct libraries Libraries established in 1541 Libraries disestablished in 1945 Buildings and structures demolished in 1945 {{Library-stub