The Berlin State Library (german: Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin; officially abbreviated as ''SBB'', colloquially ''Stabi'') is a
universal library
A universal library is a library with universal collections. This may be expressed in terms of it containing all existing information, useful information, all books, all works (regardless of format) or even all possible works. This ideal, althoug ...
in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
,
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 ...
and a property of the
Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation
The Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation (german: Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz; SPK) is a German federal government body that oversees 27 museums and cultural organizations in and around Berlin, Germany. Its purview includes all of Berlin's ...
. It is one of the
largest libraries in Europe, and one of the most important academic research libraries in the German-speaking world. It collects texts, media and cultural works from all fields in all languages, from all time periods and all countries of the world, which are of interest for academic and research purposes.
Some famous items in its collection include the oldest biblical illustrations in the fifth-century
Quedlinburg Itala fragment
The Quedlinburg ''Itala'' fragment (Berlin, Staatsbibliothek Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Cod. theol. lat. fol. 485) is a fragment of six folios from a large 5th-century illuminated manuscript of an Vetus Latina, Old Latin ''Itala'' translation o ...
, a
Gutenberg Bible
The Gutenberg Bible (also known as the 42-line Bible, the Mazarin Bible or the B42) was the earliest major book printed using mass-produced movable metal type in Europe. It marked the start of the "Gutenberg Revolution" and the age of printed b ...
, the main autograph collection of
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 treat ...
, the world's largest collection of
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 w ...
's and
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...
's manuscripts, and the original score of
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...
's
Symphony No. 9.
Central functions and cooperation with other libraries
The SBB is one of six libraries forming the
Arbeitsgemeinschaft Sammlung Deutscher Drucke (AG SDD) which "collaborate to build a comprehensive collection of printed literature published in German-speaking countries from the beginning of letterpress printing to the present, to provide information on it, to make it accessible to the public and to preserve it for future generations."
This creates a virtual or distributed national library, in which each library is responsible for a given period, of which the SBB covers 1871–1912 for regular prints, 1801–1912 for maps and newspapers, and 1801–1945 for musical scores.
Within the cooperation of German and Austrian libraries, the SBB is responsible "for the maintenance and further development of the ZDB", the central periodicals database. "The ZDB actually contains more than 1.8 million bibliographic records of serials from the 16th century onward, from all countries, in all languages, held in 3700 German and Austrian libraries, with 15.6 million holdings information. It does not contain contents, i. e. journal articles."
The SBB is one of 12 libraries and archives with significant holdings of historical documents which form the
Allianz Schriftliches Kulturgut Erhalten (DE) (English: ''Alliance to Preserve Written Cultural Heritage)''. This alliance sets itself as main task raising the consciousness of the importance to preserve the century-old cultural heritage both by securing the physical integrity of the objects in question as well as making them available in digitized form, thus preventing their deterioration by use.
The SBB itself is digitizing its holdings and offers digitized newspapers for public access via the Web through their "newspaper information system" ZEFYS, or ''Zeitungsinformationssystem''. ZEFYS "currently provides total of 281990 issues from 192 historical newspapers from Germany and foreign newspapers in german."
History
The history of the Berlin State Library closely parallels that of German history. It has lived through creation, neglect, expansion, war damage, division, unification and re-creation like few other libraries.
Library of kings
In the early period, the fortunes of the State Library rose and fell on royal whims. In 1658
Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg
Frederick William (german: Friedrich Wilhelm; 16 February 1620 – 29 April 1688) was Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia, thus ruler of Brandenburg-Prussia, from 1640 until his death in 1688. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he is ...
decreed that his private books be organized, cataloged and made available to the public. His library opened in 1661 at
Cölln
Cölln () was the twin city of Old Berlin (Altberlin) from the 13th century to the 18th century. Cölln was located on the Fisher Island section of Spree Island, opposite Altberlin on the western bank of the River Spree, until the cities we ...
as the "Library of the Elector" (german: Churfürstliche Bibliothek zu Cölln an der Spree). In 1699,
Frederick I Frederick I may refer to:
* Frederick of Utrecht or Frederick I (815/16–834/38), Bishop of Utrecht.
* Frederick I, Duke of Upper Lorraine (942–978)
* Frederick I, Duke of Swabia (1050–1105)
* Frederick I, Count of Zoller ...
more than doubled the collection, extended opening hours and introduced the first Prussian
legal deposit
Legal deposit is a legal requirement that a person or group submit copies of their publications to a repository, usually a library. The number of copies required varies from country to country. Typically, the national library is the primary reposit ...
law. In 1701 it was renamed the "Royal Library" (german: Königliche Bibliothek) upon Frederick I's accession as first
King of Prussia
The monarchs of Prussia were members of the House of Hohenzollern who were the hereditary rulers of the former German state of Prussia from its founding in 1525 as the Duchy of Prussia. The Duchy had evolved out of the Teutonic Order, a Roman C ...
.
Frederick William I then cancelled the acquisition budget in 1722 and gave away the valuable scientific collection to the Prussian Academy of Sciences in 1735.
Frederick the Great
Frederick II (german: Friedrich II.; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until his death in 1786. His most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the Sil ...
also cared little for the library at first, preferring instead his own literature in the French language. However, in 1770 he granted the library substantial assets and it made several important acquisitions. To avoid the problems caused by its dependence on the crown, Frederick the Great also granted the library considerable autonomy.
Rise to preeminence
With new resources and authority, construction began on a Royal Library building on the
Bebelplatz
The Bebelplatz (formerly and colloquially the Opernplatz) is a public square in the central Mitte district of Berlin, the capital of Germany.
The square is located on the south side of the Unter den Linden boulevard, a major east-west thoroughfa ...
in the center of Berlin. Built between 1775 and 1785 by
Georg Christian Unger
Georg Christian Unger (25 May 1743 – 20 February 1799) was a German architect who was a pupil of the architect Carl von Gontard and served Frederick II of Prussia. Among his works were the Brandenburg Gate (Potsdam), Brandenburg Gate in Potsdam a ...
to plans by
Joseph Emanuel Fischer von Erlach
Joseph Emanuel Fischer von Erlach, also ''Fischer von Erlach the younger'' (13 September 1693 in Vienna – 29 June 1742 in Vienna) was an Austrian architect of the Baroque, Rococo, and Baroque- Neoclassical.
Biography
Joseph Emanuel was the son ...
, it was nicknamed the ''Kommode'' (''Chest of drawers'') after its
Neo Baroque
The Baroque Revival, also known as Neo-Baroque (or Second Empire architecture in France and Wilhelminism in Germany), was an architectural style of the late 19th century. The term is used to describe architecture and architectural sculptur ...
design. The collection then underwent nearly continuous improvement and expansion. By 1905 it had become the largest and most influential repository of materials in the German language, and at 1.2 million books one of the largest libraries in the world. The Bebelplatz building housed the library until 1914, when the headquarters moved into new, even larger premises on the
Unter den Linden
Unter den Linden (, "under the linden trees") is a boulevard in the central Mitte district of Berlin, the capital of Germany. Running from the City Palace to Brandenburg Gate, it is named after the linden (lime in England and Ireland, not re ...
: the climax of the library's development before the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. Today the old Royal building houses the Faculty of Law of
Humboldt University
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of ...
.
At the founding of the
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is al ...
the library was renamed the "Prussian State Library" (german: Preußische Staatsbibliothek - Preussischer Staatsbibliothek). After 1919, economic effects of war and inflation on the library were mitigated through the active support of the Emergency Association of German Sciences (after 1930, the
German Research Foundation
The German Research Foundation (german: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft ; DFG ) is a German research funding organization, which functions as a self-governing institution for the promotion of science and research in the Federal Republic of Germ ...
).
War and destruction
The
Nazi period severely damaged the institution through political intimidation, employee dismissals, restrictions on foreign acquisitions and the effects of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. On 10 May 1933 a
book burning
Book burning is the deliberate destruction by fire of books or other written materials, usually carried out in a public context. The burning of books represents an element of censorship and usually proceeds from a cultural, religious, or politi ...
ceremony was held at the
Bebelplatz
The Bebelplatz (formerly and colloquially the Opernplatz) is a public square in the central Mitte district of Berlin, the capital of Germany.
The square is located on the south side of the Unter den Linden boulevard, a major east-west thoroughfa ...
by members of the
Deutsche Studentenschaft
The German Student Union (german: Deutsche Studentenschaft, abbreviated ''DSt'') from 1919 until 1945, was the merger of the general student committees of all German universities, including Danzig, Austria and the former German universities in ...
, the
National Socialist German Students' League
The National Socialist German Students' Union (German: ''Nationalsozialistischer Deutscher Studentenbund'', abbreviated NSDStB) was founded in 1926 as a division of the Nazi Party with the mission of integrating University-level education and aca ...
,
Sturmabteilung
The (; SA; literally "Storm Detachment") was the original paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party. It played a significant role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s. Its primary purposes were providing protection for Nazi ral ...
"brownshirts" and
Hitler Youth
The Hitler Youth (german: Hitlerjugend , often abbreviated as HJ, ) was the youth organisation of the Nazi Party in Germany. Its origins date back to 1922 and it received the name ("Hitler Youth, League of German Worker Youth") in July 1926. ...
groups at the instigation of the Propaganda Minister,
Joseph Goebbels
Paul Joseph Goebbels (; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German Nazi politician who was the ''Gauleiter'' (district leader) of Berlin, chief propagandist for the Nazi Party, and then Reich Minister of Propaganda from 1933 to 19 ...
. The
Nazis
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...
burned over 20,000 books - mostly from the neighboring University, not the State library itself – including works by
Thomas Mann
Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novella ...
,
Erich Maria Remarque
Erich Maria Remarque (, ; born Erich Paul Remark; 22 June 1898 – 25 September 1970) was a German-born novelist. His landmark novel '' All Quiet on the Western Front'' (1928), based on his experience in the Imperial German Army during Worl ...
,
Heinrich Heine
Christian Johann Heinrich Heine (; born Harry Heine; 13 December 1797 – 17 February 1856) was a German poet, writer and literary critic. He is best known outside Germany for his early lyric poetry, which was set to music in the form of '' Lied ...
,
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...
and many others. Today a glass plate set into the Bebelplatz, giving a view of empty bookcases, commemorates the event. After an
Allied bomb hit the
Unter den Linden
Unter den Linden (, "under the linden trees") is a boulevard in the central Mitte district of Berlin, the capital of Germany. Running from the City Palace to Brandenburg Gate, it is named after the linden (lime in England and Ireland, not re ...
building in 1941, the various holdings (consisting of some 3 million volumes and over 7,400
incunabula
In the history of printing, an incunable or incunabulum (plural incunables or incunabula, respectively), is a book, pamphlet, or broadside that was printed in the earliest stages of printing in Europe, up to the year 1500. Incunabula were pro ...
) were evacuated to 30 monasteries, castles, and abandoned mines around Germany. By the end of the war, the main building was severely damaged, the valuable collections distributed across Allied zones of occupation, the library staff killed or scattered, and 700,000 volumes either
destroyed
Destroyed may refer to:
* ''Destroyed'' (Sloppy Seconds album), a 1989 album by Sloppy Seconds
* ''Destroyed'' (Moby album), a 2011 album by Moby
See also
* Destruction (disambiguation)
Destruction may refer to:
Concepts
* Destruktion, a ...
or lost. With the formal dissolution of the State of
Prussia
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...
in 1947, support for the library ended and the Prussian State Library ceased to exist.
Rebuilding and reunification
After 1945, parts of the collection that had been hidden in what became the
Soviet occupation zone
The Soviet Occupation Zone ( or german: Ostzone, label=none, "East Zone"; , ''Sovetskaya okkupatsionnaya zona Germanii'', "Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany") was an area of Germany in Central Europe that was occupied by the Soviet Union as a c ...
were returned to the war-damaged
Unter den Linden
Unter den Linden (, "under the linden trees") is a boulevard in the central Mitte district of Berlin, the capital of Germany. Running from the City Palace to Brandenburg Gate, it is named after the linden (lime in England and Ireland, not re ...
building in
East Berlin
East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as ...
. It first opened in 1946 as the ''Public Scientific Library'' (german: Öffentliche Wissenschaftliche Bibliothek). When further restoration work was completed in 1955, the library was renamed the ''German State Library'' (german: Deutsche Staatsbibliothek). The great domed reading room, however, remained a ruin in the center of the building.
A larger proportion of the collection wound up in the American
occupation zone
Germany was already de facto military occupation, occupied by the Allies of World War II, Allies from the real German Instrument of Surrender, fall of Nazi Germany in World War II on 8 May 1945 to the establishment of the East Germany on 7 Octo ...
, including a cache of 1.5 million volumes hidden in a
potash
Potash () includes various mined and manufactured salts that contain potassium in water-soluble form. mine near
Hattorf
Hattorf am Harz is a municipality in the district of Göttingen, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated in the southern Harz, approx. 10 km south of Osterode am Harz.
Hattorf is also the seat of the ''Samtgemeinde'' ("collective municipal ...
, and was moved to the
University of Marburg
The Philipps University of Marburg (german: Philipps-Universität Marburg) was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Protestant university in the wor ...
in 1946. This collection first opened to the public as the ''Hessian Library'' (german: Hessische Bibliothek) and in 1949, as the last lost stores arrived, it was renamed the ''West German Library'' (german: Westdeutsche Bibliothek). Those parts of the collection that had been in the French
occupation zone
Germany was already de facto military occupation, occupied by the Allies of World War II, Allies from the real German Instrument of Surrender, fall of Nazi Germany in World War II on 8 May 1945 to the establishment of the East Germany on 7 Octo ...
, mainly at
Beuron Archabbey
Beuron Archabbey (in German Erzabtei Beuron, otherwise Erzabtei St. Martin; in Latin ''Archiabbatia Sancti Martini Beuronensis''; Swabian: ''Erzabtei Beira'') is a major house of the Benedictine Order located at Beuron in the upper Danube va ...
, were gathered to the
University of Tübingen
The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (german: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; la, Universitas Eberhardina Carolina), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Wü ...
. In 1962 the Federal Republic passed a law giving administrative responsibility for all these collections to
Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation
The Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation (german: Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz; SPK) is a German federal government body that oversees 27 museums and cultural organizations in and around Berlin, Germany. Its purview includes all of Berlin's ...
and endowed it with State funding. During the 1960s, the various stocks, services and personnel began to be relocated to
West Berlin
West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...
. To house it all, a grand new building complex on the
Kulturforum
The Kulturforum ( en, Cultural Forum) is a collection of cultural buildings in Berlin. It was built up in the 1950s and 1960s at the edge of West Berlin, after most of the once unified city's cultural assets had been lost behind the Berlin Wall ...
was constructed near the
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall (german: Berliner Mauer, ) was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and East Germany (GDR). Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the government ...
, just away from the library in
East Berlin
East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as ...
.
After
German Reunification
German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...
, the two institutions were formally reunited in 1992. The new
West Berlin
West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...
building and the original
East Berlin
East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as ...
building became "one library with two homes" and the old State Library was reborn as the ''Berlin State Library''. From 2000 until 2012 Berlin State Library was refurbished by German architect
HG Merz
Hans Günter Merz, better known as HG Merz (born 1947 in Tailfingen) is a German architect and museum designer. He is the founder and director of ''hg merz architekten museumsgestalter'', an architecture office that specializes in museum and exhib ...
. The destroyed reading room, the core of the building, was replaced by a glass cube.
Legacies of the past
Many important items from the original collection are now located in
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
and territories of the former
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
declared as
war reparations
War reparations are compensation payments made after a war by one side to the other. They are intended to cover damage or injury inflicted during a war.
History
Making one party pay a war indemnity is a common practice with a long history.
R ...
, sometimes controversiallysuch as the ''
Berlinka Art Collection''. The original score of Beethoven's
8th Symphony is a starker example of division: while the first, second and fourth movements are in Berlin, the third is kept in
Kraków
Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...
. Conversely, it is estimated that about 10,000 volumes and 9,000 other items in the Berlin State Library are there as a result of
Nazi plunder
Nazi plunder (german: Raubkunst) was the stealing of art and other items which occurred as a result of the Art theft and looting during World War II, organized looting of European countries during the time of the Nazi Party in Germany. The loot ...
. As such, repatriation and self-criticism about these materials became controversial issues, so in 2005 the
Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation
The Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation (german: Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz; SPK) is a German federal government body that oversees 27 museums and cultural organizations in and around Berlin, Germany. Its purview includes all of Berlin's ...
established the
Center for Provenance Research to resolve the problems. For example, in 2008 a library user found an
encyclopedia
An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English) is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either general or special to a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into articles ...
entitled ''Religion in History and the Present Day'' with a bookplate indicating it once belonged to a Jewish theologian. Library staff managed to find his widow in Israel, but she wrote back: "I appreciate your offer to return this book to me, but I have no use for it now."
Locations
![Berlin-Westhafen Getreidespeicher Lagerhalle1 LWEOS0130](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/Berlin-Westhafen_Getreidespeicher_Lagerhalle1_LWEOS0130.JPG)
The State Library operates from two major public sites, ''Haus Unter Den Linden'' and ''Haus Potsdamer Straße'', called the "Library in Two Homes". There are additional subsidiary locations for newspapers, magazines, and archives not open to the public.
Haus Unter Den Linden
The original main building was built between 1908 and 1913 by the ''Prussian Construction and Financial Directorate of Berlin'', then responsible for public constructions in the city. The
Neo Baroque
The Baroque Revival, also known as Neo-Baroque (or Second Empire architecture in France and Wilhelminism in Germany), was an architectural style of the late 19th century. The term is used to describe architecture and architectural sculptur ...
design is by popular
Wilhelmine
The Wilhelmine Period () comprises the period of German history between 1890 and 1918, embracing the reign of Kaiser Wilhelm II in the German Empire from the resignation of Chancellor Otto von Bismarck until the end of World War I and Wilhelm' ...
court architect
Ernst von Ihne
Ernst is both a surname and a given name, the German, Dutch, and Scandinavian form of Ernest. Notable people with the name include:
Surname
* Adolf Ernst (1832–1899) German botanist known by the author abbreviation "Ernst"
* Anton Ernst (1975- ...
and was further adapted by
Alexander Baerwald
Alexander Baerwald (1877–1930) was a German Jewish architect best known for his work in Haifa, today in Israel, during History of Palestine#Ottoman period, Late Ottoman and Mandate Palestine, British rule.
Life and career
Baerwald was born i ...
, who was in charge of the construction management. In front of the building is an
equestrian statue of Frederick the Great
The Equestrian statue of Frederick the Great on Unter den Linden avenue in Berlin's Mitte district commemorates King Frederick II. of Prussia. Created from 1839 to 1851 by Christian Daniel Rauch, it is a masterpiece of the Berlin school of scu ...
. The building was 40% damaged during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, and after the
division of Berlin
The Berlin Wall (german: Berliner Mauer, ) was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and East Germany (GDR). Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the governmen ...
wound up in
East Berlin
East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as ...
. After delays and cost overruns, a 15 year restoration project was finally completed in January 2021, including a new translucent central reading room on the ruins of the old dome.
The central location is now the historical research library housing the collection up to and including 1945.
Haus Potsdamer Straße
This is the newer building in the
Kulturforum
The Kulturforum ( en, Cultural Forum) is a collection of cultural buildings in Berlin. It was built up in the 1950s and 1960s at the edge of West Berlin, after most of the once unified city's cultural assets had been lost behind the Berlin Wall ...
on
Potsdamer Straße
Shandy is beer or cider mixed with a lemon or a lemon-lime flavored beverage. The citrus beverage, often called lemonade, may or may not be carbonated. The proportions of the two ingredients are adjusted to taste but are usually half lemonade ...
in
West Berlin
West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...
, designed by
Hans Scharoun
Bernhard Hans Henry Scharoun (20 September 1893 – 25 November 1972) was a German architect best known for designing the Berliner Philharmonie (home to the Berlin Philharmonic) and the Schminke House in Löbau, Saxony. He was an important ...
with substantial participation by
Edgar Wisniewski Edgar Wisniewski (4 September 1930, in Stolp, Germany (now Słupsk, Poland) – 25 April 2007, in Berlin) was a German architect. He was a student and later business partner of Hans Scharoun.
Life
Wisniewski was born in 1930 as the younger of two ...
. Construction began in 1967 to house those parts of the library's evacuated holdings from the western Allied
occupation zones
Germany was already de facto occupied by the Allies from the real fall of Nazi Germany in World War II on 8 May 1945 to the establishment of the East Germany on 7 October 1949. The Allies (United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, and France ...
at the end of World War II. After 11 years of construction, it was finally dedicated by Federal President
Walter Scheel
Walter Scheel (; 8 July 1919 – 24 August 2016) was a German statesman. A member of the Free Democratic Party of Germany (FDP), he first served in government as the Federal Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development from 1961 to 1966 and l ...
and opened to the public in 1978. It was renovated from 1999 to 2001. The building is currently being further redeveloped into a modern research library as a companion to the Haus Unter den Linden and will house the collection from 1946 onwards.
Additional sites
*Westhafen: located in
Berlin-Moabit
Moabit () is an inner city locality in the borough of Mitte, Berlin, Germany. As of 2016, around 77,000 people lived in Moabit. First inhabited in 1685 and incorporated into Berlin in 1861, the former industrial and working-class neighbourhood is ...
, this building is a renovated granary and houses the newspaper collection and the children's and youth's library. It also serves as a temporary site for other major collections while the Unter den Linden building is renovated.
*Friedrichshagen Storage Magazine: located in
Friedrichshagen
Friedrichshagen () is a German locality (''Ortsteil'') within the Berlin borough (''Bezirk'') of Treptow-Köpenick. Until 2001 it was part of the former borough of Köpenick.
History
The colony of ''Friedrichsgnade'' was founded on May 29, 1753 ...
and originally constructed in 1950 for various scientific agencies of the
German Democratic Republic
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
, this site was renovated and expanded in 2011 into a technologically advanced storage facility for
cultural artifacts
A cultural artifact, or cultural artefact (see American and British English spelling differences), is a term used in the social sciences, particularly anthropology, ethnology and sociology for anything created by humans which gives information ...
. It encompasses of climate-controlled space, and plans are in place to triple its size.
Collection
* More than 11 million books
* More than 200,000 rare books
* 4,442
incunabula
In the history of printing, an incunable or incunabulum (plural incunables or incunabula, respectively), is a book, pamphlet, or broadside that was printed in the earliest stages of printing in Europe, up to the year 1500. Incunabula were pro ...
* 18,300
occidental
Occidental may refer to:
* Western world (of or pertaining to)
Places
*Occidental, California, a town in Sonoma County, California, US
* Occidental Park (Seattle)
Other uses
* Interlingue, a constructed language formerly known as Occidental
* Oc ...
manuscripts (including parts of the
Nibelungenlied
The ( gmh, Der Nibelunge liet or ), translated as ''The Song of the Nibelungs'', is an epic poetry, epic poem written around 1200 in Middle High German. Its anonymous poet was likely from the region of Passau. The is based on an oral tradition ...
)
* 42,170
oriental
The Orient is a term for the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of ''Occident'', the Western World. In English, it is largely a metonym for, and coterminous with, the ...
manuscripts (including early
Ming
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...
block prints)
* 250,000 autographs (including
Lessing Lessing is a German surname of Slavic origin, originally ''Lesnik'' meaning "woodman".
Lessing may refer to:
A German family of writers, artists, musicians and politicians who can be traced back to a Michil Lessigk mentioned in 1518 as being a lin ...
,
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 treat ...
,
Kleist Kleist, or von Kleist, is a surname.
von Kleist:
*August von Kleist (1818–1890), Prussian Major General
*Conrad von Kleist (1839-1900), German politician (German Conservative Party), member of Reichstag
*Ewald Georg von Kleist (ca. 1700–1748), ...
)
* 66,350
music autographs
* 1,400 estate archives (including the
Mendelssohn family
The Mendelssohn family are the descendants of Mendel of Dassau. The German Jewish philosopher Moses Mendelssohn and his brother Saul were the first to adopt the surname Mendelssohn. The family includes his grandson, the composer Felix Mendelssoh ...
)
* 460,000 editions of
sheet music
Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses List of musical symbols, musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chord (music), chords of a song or instrumental Musical composition, musical piece. Like ...
* 1.1 million maps, atlases and globes (including the world's largest bound
atlas
An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of maps of Earth or of a region of Earth.
Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats. In addition to presenting geographic ...
)
* 38,000 subscription
periodicals
A periodical literature (also called a periodical publication or simply a periodical) is a published work that appears in a new edition on a regular schedule. The most familiar example is a newspaper, but a magazine or a Academic journal, journal ...
and
monograph
A monograph is a specialist work of writing (in contrast to reference works) or exhibition on a single subject or an aspect of a subject, often by a single author or artist, and usually on a scholarly subject.
In library cataloging, ''monograph ...
ic series
* 180,000 early
newspaper
A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background.
Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...
volumes
* 22,900 printed and magazines
* 24,400 licensed
electronic newspaper
An online newspaper (or electronic news or electronic news publication) is the electronic publishing, online version of a newspaper, either as a stand-alone publication or as the online version of a printed periodical literature, periodical.
Goin ...
s
* 4,700 databases
* 2.3 million
microfiche
Microforms are scaled-down reproductions of documents, typically either films or paper, made for the purposes of transmission, storage, reading, and printing. Microform images are commonly reduced to about 4% or of the original document size. F ...
s and
microfilm
Microforms are scaled-down reproductions of documents, typically either photographic film, films or paper, made for the purposes of transmission, storage, reading, and printing. Microform images are commonly reduced to about 4% or of the origin ...
s
* 13.5 million images at the
Prussian Heritage Image Archive
The Prussian Heritage Image Archive (german: Bildarchiv Preußischer Kulturbesitz or 'bpk') is an agency of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation. The archive is housed at the Otto Nagel-Haus in Berlin and offers photographs, cartoons and draw ...
Among the library's most precious treasures are the
Psalter of Louis the German
The Ludwig Psalter is an Illuminated manuscript, illuminated psalter produced between about 825 and 850 at the Abbey of Saint Bertin. It was made for a King Louis, generally thought to be Louis the German, although Louis the Pious has also been sug ...
dating from the 9th century and an elaborately adorned copy of the
Gutenberg Bible
The Gutenberg Bible (also known as the 42-line Bible, the Mazarin Bible or the B42) was the earliest major book printed using mass-produced movable metal type in Europe. It marked the start of the "Gutenberg Revolution" and the age of printed b ...
. The oldest handwritten book in the collection is a
Coptic
Coptic may refer to:
Afro-Asia
* Copts, an ethnoreligious group mainly in the area of modern Egypt but also in Sudan and Libya
* Coptic language, a Northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt until at least the 17th century
* Coptic alphabet ...
codex
The codex (plural codices ) was the historical ancestor of the modern book. Instead of being composed of sheets of paper, it used sheets of vellum, papyrus, or other materials. The term ''codex'' is often used for ancient manuscript books, with ...
of the biblical
Book of Proverbs
The Book of Proverbs ( he, מִשְלֵי, , "Proverbs (of Solomon)") is a book in the third section (called Ketuvim) of the Hebrew Bible and a book of the Christian Old Testament. When translated into Greek and Latin, the title took on different ...
dating from the 3rd century; the oldest printed book is an 8th-century Buddhist text from Japan, the
Hyakumantó Darani.
The library also has an extensive collection of important music manuscripts, including 80% of all the autographs of
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 w ...
and
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...
, the largest collection in the world. Famous examples include
Bach's Mass in B Minor
The Mass in B minor (), BWV 232, is an extended setting of the Mass ordinary by Johann Sebastian Bach. The composition was completed in 1749, the year before the composer's death, and was to a large extent based on earlier work, such as a Sanctu ...
, the
St. Matthew
Matthew the Apostle,, shortened to ''Matti'' (whence ar, مَتَّى, Mattā), meaning "Gift of YHWH"; arc, , Mattai; grc-koi, Μαθθαῖος, ''Maththaîos'' or , ''Matthaîos''; cop, ⲙⲁⲧⲑⲉⲟⲥ, Mattheos; la, Matthaeus a ...
and
St. John Passions, and nearly all of Mozart's operas. In addition to
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...
's 4th, 5th, and 8th Symphonies, the Library also holds the autograph score, autograph leaves, and historic records of
Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, which was added to
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 ...
’s
Memory of the World Register
Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remembered, ...
in 2001.
Other notable items are a 1491 Map of Germany by
Nikolaus von Kues, the Atlas of
The Great Elector
Frederick William (german: Friedrich Wilhelm; 16 February 1620 – 29 April 1688) was Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia, thus ruler of Brandenburg-Prussia, from 1640 until his death in 1688. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he is ...
(german: Atlas des Großen Kurfürsten), the
Jahangir
Nur-ud-Din Muhammad Salim (30 August 1569 – 28 October 1627), known by his imperial name Jahangir (; ), was the fourth Mughal Emperor, who ruled from 1605 until he died in 1627. He was named after the Indian Sufi saint, Salim Chishti.
Ear ...
-Album from around 1600, and the largest Hebrew Bible and the largest parchment Torah scroll in the world.
Notable librarians
Several notable scholars have held positions at the library, among them:
*
Georg Heinrich Pertz
Georg Heinrich Pertz (28 March 17957 October 1876) was a German historian.
Personal life
Pertz was born in Hanover on 28 March 1795. His parents were the court bookbinder Christian August Pertz and Henrietta Justina née Deppen.
He married twi ...
, head librarian 1842–1873
*
Valentin Rose, chairman of manuscript department 1886–1905
*
Karl Richard Lepsius
Karl Richard Lepsius ( la, Carolus Richardius Lepsius) (23 December 181010 July 1884) was a pioneering Prussian Egyptologist, linguist and modern archaeologist.
He is widely known for his magnum opus ''Denkmäler aus Ägypten und Äthiopien'' ...
, head librarian 1873–1884
*
Adolf von Harnack
Carl Gustav Adolf von Harnack (born Harnack; 7 May 1851 – 10 June 1930) was a Baltic German Lutheran theologian and prominent Church historian. He produced many religious publications from 1873 to 1912 (in which he is sometimes credited ...
, head librarian 1905–1921
In film
The western library played a starring role in
Wim Wenders
Ernst Wilhelm "Wim" Wenders (; born 14 August 1945) is a German filmmaker, playwright, author, and photographer. He is a major figure in New German Cinema. Among many honors, he has received three nominations for the Academy Award for Best Docum ...
' ''
Wings of Desire
''Wings of Desire'' (, ; ) is a 1987 romantic fantasy film written by Wim Wenders, Peter Handke and Richard Reitinger, and directed by Wenders. The film is about invisible, immortal angels who populate Berlin and listen to the thoughts of its hu ...
''. Two angels, the stars of the film, read the thoughts of the library's patrons.
See also
*
Berlin Central and Regional Library
The Berlin Central and Regional Library (german: Zentral- und Landesbibliothek Berlin) or ZLB is the official library of the City and State of Berlin, Germany. It was established as a Foundation by two State laws, initially in 1995 and amended in ...
(ZLB)
*
German National Library
The German National Library (DNB; german: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek) is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany. It is one of the largest libraries in the world. Its task is to colle ...
(DNB)
*
German National Library of Economics
The National Library of Economics (ZBW – Leibniz Information Centre for Economics) is the world's largest research infrastructure for economic literature, online as well as offline. The ZBW is a member of the Leibniz Association and has been ...
(ZBW)
*
German National Library of Medicine
German National Library of Medicine (german: Deutsche Zentralbibliothek für Medizin), abbreviated ZB MED - Information Centre for Life Sciences in Cologne, together with the Bonn site, is the central specialist library for medicine, public health ...
(ZB MED)
*
German National Library of Science and Technology
The German National Library of Science and Technology (german: Technische Informationsbibliothek), abbreviated TIB, is the national library of the Federal Republic of Germany for all fields of engineering, technology, and the natural sciences. I ...
(TIB)
*
Kunstbibliothek Berlin
The Berlin Art Library (german: Kunstbibliothek Berlin) is an agency of the Berlin State Museums under the auspices of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation. It has approximately 400,000 volumes and ranks among Germany's leading institutions s ...
*
Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation
The Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation (german: Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz; SPK) is a German federal government body that oversees 27 museums and cultural organizations in and around Berlin, Germany. Its purview includes all of Berlin's ...
*
Prussian Heritage Image Archive
The Prussian Heritage Image Archive (german: Bildarchiv Preußischer Kulturbesitz or 'bpk') is an agency of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation. The archive is housed at the Otto Nagel-Haus in Berlin and offers photographs, cartoons and draw ...
References
External links
Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz
{{coord, 52, 30, 23, N, 13, 22, 13, E, region:DE-BE_type:landmark, display=title
State Libraray
Deposit libraries
State Libraray
Prussian cultural sites
1661 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire
Neoclassical architecture in Berlin