The Königsberg State and University Library () was a combined state library and

academic library An academic library is a library that is attached to a higher education institution, which supports the curriculum and the research of the university faculty and students. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, there are an es ...

Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...

East Prussia East Prussia was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1772 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871); following World War I it formed part of the Weimar Republic's ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. It was one of the most prestigious libraries of the eastern German ''

Sprachraum In linguistics, a sprachraum (; , "language area", plural sprachräume, ) is a geographical region where a common first language (mother tongue), with dialect varieties, or group of languages is spoken. Characteristics Many sprachräume are sep ...

'', comparable only to the in Breslau in

Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...

of then southeastern Germany (now

Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

). Königsberg University's developed since the 16th century out of several smaller libraries. It was destroyed in 1944 during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in the invasion by the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

after which the city was occupied and renamed

Kaliningrad Kaliningrad,. known as Königsberg; ; . until 1946, is the largest city and administrative centre of Kaliningrad Oblast, an Enclave and exclave, exclave of Russia between Lithuania and Poland ( west of the bulk of Russia), located on the Prego ...

History

Chamber Library

Albert, Duke of Prussia Albert of Prussia (; 17 May 149020 March 1568) was a German prince who was the 37th grand master of the Teutonic Knights and, after converting to Lutheranism, became the first ruler of the Duchy of Prussia, the secularized state that emerged fr ...

(1490–1568), founded the Chamber Library (''Kammerbibliothek'') or German Library (''Deutsche Bibliothek'') above the gate of

Königsberg Castle Königsberg Castle (, ) was the seat of the grand masters of the Teutonic Order and of the dukes and kings of Prussia in the city of Königsberg (since 1946 Kaliningrad, Russia). The original fortress on the site was built by the Teutonic Knights ...

in with about 100 smaller works.Hanowell, p. 107 Its first director was the ducal secretary Balthasar Gans. Karl Lohmeyer in ''Altpreussische Monatsschrift'', p. 595 Because Albert only had rudimentary knowledge of the

Latin language Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

, the collection contained German books and

German language German (, ) is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family, mainly spoken in Western Europe, Western and Central Europe. It is the majority and Official language, official (or co-official) language in Germany, Austria, Switze ...

translations of foreign texts. Its authors were among the most influential of the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...

of the 15th century, including

Martin Luther Martin Luther ( ; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, Theology, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Reformation, Pr ...

, Lazarus Spengler,

Martin Bucer Martin Bucer (; Early German: ; 11 November 1491– 28 February 1551) was a German Protestant reformer based in Strasbourg who influenced Lutheran, Anglican doctrines and practices as well as Reformed Theology. Bucer was originally a memb ...

Johann von Staupitz Johann von Staupitz ( 1460 – 28 December 1524) was a German Catholic priest and theologian, university preacher, and Vicar General of the Augustinian friars in Germany, who supervised Martin Luther during a critical period in his spiritual life ...

, Andreas Karlstadt, , Johannes Oecolampadius, and Urbanus Rhegius. Other volumes included legal, historical, geographical, and medical topics. By the end of Albert's life, the ducal Chamber Library had expanded to 500 volumes. The Chamber Library was passed to the Castle Library in 1583.

Silver Library

The most cherished part of the Chamber Library was the Silver Library (''Silberbibliothek''). Initially only two of Albert's volumes were bound with plates of embossed silver by silversmiths, but it expanded to twenty after the duke's second marriage in 1550 to Anna Marie of Brunswick-Lüneburg. Besides the splendid Lutheran Bible by Cornelius Vorwend of

Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

, there were also three works by Paul Hoffmann, six by Gerhard Lenz, and five by Hieronymus Kösler, the latter three all being from Königsberg.Gause I, p. 247 On 20 August 1611 the Silver Library passed to the directors of the Castle Library. It was temporarily evacuated to Küstrin during the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

(1756–1763), to Memel (later renamed

Klaipėda Klaipėda ( ; ) is a city in Lithuania on the Baltic Sea coast. It is the List of cities in Lithuania, third-largest city in Lithuania, the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, fifth-largest city in the Baltic States, and the capi ...

) during the

War of the Fourth Coalition The War of the Fourth Coalition () was a war spanning 1806–1807 that saw a multinational coalition fight against Napoleon's First French Empire, French Empire, subsequently being defeated. The main coalition partners were Kingdom of Prussia, ...

(1806–1807) in the world-wide

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

(1803–1815), and to

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

(1914–1918). Since 1924, it was exhibited as part of the

Teutonic Knights The Teutonic Order is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem was formed to aid Christians on their pilgrimages to t ...

museum within Königsberg Castle. It was moved to the manor in Karwinden during

(1939–1945) but was lost amidst the battle damage of the war on the Eastern Front with the invasion by the

Castle Library

Encouraged by the influx of educated persons to Königsberg, Albert established for academics the Castle Library (''Schloßbibliothek'') or New Library (''Neue Bibliothek'', ''Bibliotheca nova''), the core of the later State Library, alongside his private Chamber Library in 1529. Crotus Rubeanus of

Thuringia Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. Er ...

gathered 63 mostly Latin and Greek volumes from 70 authors. It grew in size to require a librarian, the efficient Felix König (Rex) of

Ghent Ghent ( ; ; historically known as ''Gaunt'' in English) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the Provinces of Belgium, province ...

, also known as Polyphemus, who instituted systematic and alphabetical catalogs. The date of Polyphemus's start, 5 December 1534, has been regarded as the informal beginning of the library.Centralblatt, p. 346 Albert made the Castle Library public in 1540, an act celebrated by theologians and humanists and praised by Wilhelm Gnapheus in Latin poetry. At that time it contained 1,600 titles in 800 volumes. Writing in the ', considered the Königsberg Castle Library to be the first public library in Europe, older than the

Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1602 by Sir Thomas Bodley, it is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second-largest library in ...

which opened publicly in 1602. Between 1541 and 1543 the Castle Library also acquired the ''Ordensbibliothek'', the library of the

previously located in Tapiau. By the time of Polyphemus's death in 1549, the Castle Library counted 2,400 works in 1,200 volumes. The immediate successors of Polyphemus were

Martin Chemnitz Martin Chemnitz (9 November 1522 – 8 April 1586) was an eminent second-generation German Confederation, German, Lutheranism, Evangelical Lutheran, Christian theology, Christian theologian, and a Protestant Reformers, Protestant reformer, c ...

of Treuenbrietzen (worked 1550–53) and David Milesius of

Neisse The Lusatian Neisse (; ; ; Upper Sorbian: ''Łužiska Nysa''; Lower Sorbian: ''Łužyska Nysa''), or Western Neisse, is a river in northern Central Europe.

. The Castle Library flourished through the leadership of Heinrich Zell (worked 1557–64), who added 1,000 volumes and reorganized it. It was possibly by a suggestion of Zell that Albert decreed in 1557 that a copy of all books printed in Prussia be included within the Castle Library;

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 ...

continued until 1945. Successors of Zell were Johann Steinbach (worked 1564–66), of Danzig (worked 1566–85), and of Danzig. The Castle Library acquired the Chamber Library in 1583 and the Silver Library in 1611. Under the leadership of Menius in , the ''Schlossbibliothek'' acquired 204 legal volumes and 196 theological volumes. It began to stagnate in 1618 after the inheritance of the

Duchy of Prussia The Duchy of Prussia (, , ) or Ducal Prussia (; ) was a duchy in the region of Prussia established as a result of secularization of the Monastic Prussia, the territory that remained under the control of the State of the Teutonic Order until t ...

by the

Margraviate of Brandenburg The Margraviate of Brandenburg () was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806 that, having electoral status although being quite poor, grew rapidly in importance after inheriting the Duchy of Prussia in 1618 and then came ...

, however; the Hohenzollern rulers focused on developing the libraries of

instead of Königsberg. From 1621 to 1658 only 343 volumes were added to the latter. At the end of the 17th century it acquired the collection of Bogusław Radziwiłł.

Wallenrodt Library

The (''Wallenrodtsche Bibliothek'') of

Königsberg Cathedral Königsberg Cathedral (; ) is a Brick Gothic-style monument in Kaliningrad, Russia, located on Kneiphof island in the Pregolya river. It is the most significant preserved building of the former city of Königsberg, which was largely destroyed in ...

was established by the 17th century ducal chancellor (1570–1632), whose first collection of 3,000 volumes was destroyed by fire in 1623. Martin began a second collection which reached 2,000 volumes by his death and was then continued by his son, (1632–1696), who added another 1,000 volumes. Ernst von Wallenrodt (1651–1735) donated 2,000 more volumes in 1718.Hanowell, p. 109 Librarians included the professor Christian Heinrich Gütther (worked 1738–55), (worked 1756–63), Carl Andreas Christiani (worked 1763–80), law professor (worked 1780–85), and .Gause II, p. 242 Rudolf Reicke counted 10,334 volumes, including 200

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has ...

s and 85

incunabula An incunable or incunabulum (: incunables or incunabula, respectively) is a book, pamphlet, or broadside (printing), broadside that was printed in the earliest stages of printing in Europe, up to the year 1500. The specific date is essentiall ...

. The Wallenrodt Library was incorporated into the State and University Library in 1909, with 7,000 volumes taken by the Mitteltragheim facility and 3,500 volumes remaining in Königsberg Cathedral. The latter were destroyed by the August 1944 bombing of Königsberg in World War II.

University Library

The University Library (''Universitätsbibliothek'') was established in 1544 as a small academic library for the Albertina, the new

University of Königsberg The University of Königsberg () was the university of Königsberg in Duchy of Prussia, which was a fief of Poland. It was founded in 1544 as the world's second Protestant Reformation, Protestant academy (after the University of Marburg) by Duke A ...

. However, it was for long overshadowed by the Chamber and Castle Libraries. It began to expand during the

Age of Enlightenment The Age of Enlightenment (also the Age of Reason and the Enlightenment) was a Europe, European Intellect, intellectual and Philosophy, philosophical movement active from the late 17th to early 19th century. Chiefly valuing knowledge gained th ...

through private efforts, rather than state support.Hanowell, p. 108 Michael Lilienthal (1686–1750) was a librarian at the start of the 18th century, while during the administration of Martin Sylvester Grabe the Younger (1674–1727) it acquired 800 volumes. The theologian librarians Johannes Behm (lived 1687–1753) and

Friedrich Samuel Bock Friedrich Samuel Bock (Königsberg 20 May 1716 – Königsberg 30 September 1785) was a German philosopher and theologian.Immanuel Kant Immanuel Kant (born Emanuel Kant; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German Philosophy, philosopher and one of the central Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works ...

served as an assistant librarian. The physicist Karl Daniel Reusch was librarian from 1779 to 1806. The University Library often received donations, such as the 3,000 volume and coin collection of the mathematician David Bläsing (1660–1719), the substantial collection of Professor Cölestin Kowalewski (1700–1771), part of the theologian Georg Christoph Pisanski's estate, and a donation from the Tilsit merchant Johann Daniel Gordack in 1790. The University Library of that era was detrimentally located in two rooms within Königsberg Castle between the Schlosskirche and a tower. The library was only open two days a week for three hours, and was not open at all during the winter of 1772/73 because Bock did not want to work during the cold. By the end of Bock's service in 1779, the library's collection of manuscripts and incunabula had expanded to 14,000. The University Library received the collection of the ''Etatsministerium'' in 1805, as that government ministry had been dissolved the previous year. The library also acquired the collection of the Deutsche Gesellschaft. Georg Heinrich Ludwig Nicolovius was only librarian from 1807 to 1809, but his effective administration acquired 2,832 volumes, more than Reusch had managed over a much longer time. The history collection was predominant, followed by theology and philology. German and European classics first began to appear during the stewardship of Nicolovius.

19th century

In 1810 during the era of Prussian reforms, several of the city's collections, including the Castle Library, University Library,

Public Library A public library is a library, most often a lending 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 servic ...

, and Keyserling Library, moved to the Königshaus, a royal palace built for King Frederick William I in 1731 in Neue Sorge.Albinus, p. 324 The Castle Library thus became the Royal Library (''Königliche Bibliothek'') on 21 February 1810 and was administered by a university curatorship. The royal and university libraries were united as the Royal and University Library (''Königliche- und Universitätsbibliothek'') in 1827. The Keyserling Library moved to Rautenberg in 1821, while the Public Library moved to Kneiphof in 1875. The library counted amongst its donations the personal collection of

Johann Friedrich Herbart Johann Friedrich Herbart (; 4 May 1776 – 14 August 1841) was a German philosopher, psychologist and founder of pedagogy as an academic discipline. Herbart is now remembered amongst the post-Kantian philosophers mostly as making the greatest ...

(1776–1841). In 1858 the bibliophile Friedrich August Gotthold (1839–1880), director of the Collegium Fridericianum, donated his personal collection of 36,000 volumes to the library. Gotthold's collection included ''

belles-lettres () is a category of writing, originally meaning beautiful or fine writing. In the modern narrow sense, it is a label for literary works that do not fall into the major categories such as fiction, poetry, or drama. The phrase is sometimes used pej ...

'', classical philology, pedagogy, history, geography, and music since the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

. In 1860 it received the collection of its chief librarian, Christian August Lobeck (1781–1860). In 1890 the Royal and University Library counted 263,636 volumes. Collections and '' Nachlässe'' acquired around the turn of the century included Friedrich Zanders (1811–1894), Gustav Hirschfeld (1847–1895), Jakob Caro (1835–1904), and August Hagen (1834–1910). The ''Nachlass'' of the philosopher

Johann Georg Hamann Johann Georg Hamann (; ; 27 August 1730 – 21 June 1788) was a German Lutheran philosopher from Königsberg known as "the Wizard of the North" who was one of the leading figures of post-Kantian philosophy. His work was used by his student J. G ...

(1730–1788), the Magus of the North, was added in 1905.

20th century

The Royal and University Library moved from Neue Sorge to

Tragheim Tragheim was a Quarter (urban subdivision), quarter of northern Königsberg, Germany. Its territory is now part of Kaliningrad, Russia. History Tragheim was first documented in 1299, but probably already existed as an Old Prussians, Old Prussian f ...

in 1901. The new institution was built in Mitteltragheim in place of the Baroque Braxein-Tettau Palace once owned by the apothecary and councilor August Wilhelm Hensche. The adjoining road Henschestraße was named in his honor. Librarians included Fritz Milkau and Ernst Kuhnert. In 1909 it added the Wallenrodt Library, the preeminent noble and civil service collection of the province. The institution became the State and University Library (''Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek'') after the abdication of the

House of Hohenzollern The House of Hohenzollern (, ; , ; ) is a formerly royal (and from 1871 to 1918, imperial) German dynasty whose members were variously princes, Prince-elector, electors, kings and emperors of Hohenzollern Castle, Hohenzollern, Margraviate of Bran ...

in 1918. Kuhnert published a history of the library in 1926. Other collections affiliated with the united library were that of Königsberg Observatory and the ''Handbibliothek'' for use by students. In 1939 the State and University Library contained 685,000 volumes. At the start of 1944 many of the library's most valued collections were evacuated to nearby palaces and manors. The library itself was destroyed during the August 1944 Bombing of Königsberg in World War II. Surviving texts were subsequently acquired by

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and Polish experts and institutions. Remnants of the State and University Library can be found within, among others:''Königsberg – Kaliningrad'', p. 65 *

: Prussian Privy State Archives in

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

Vilnius University Library Vilnius University Library or VU Library (also ''VUL'') is the oldest and one of the largest academic libraries of Lithuania. It was founded in 1570 by the Jesuits and as such is nine years older than Vilnius University. VU Library holds 5.4 mil ...

and Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

; *

: Nicolaus Copernicus University Library in

Toruń Toruń is a city on the Vistula River in north-central Poland and a World Heritage Sites of Poland, UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its population was 196,935 as of December 2021. Previously, it was the capital of the Toruń Voivodeship (1975–199 ...

; Hosianum in

Olsztyn Olsztyn ( , ) is a city on the Łyna River in northern Poland. It is the capital of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, and is a city with powiat rights, city with county rights. The population of the city was estimated at 169,793 residents Olsz ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University (IKBFU; ) is a public university located in the exclave of Kaliningrad, Russia. Following World War II, the city of Königsberg was transferred to Soviet Union according to the Potsdam Agreement, and ...

; Russian State Library, State Public Historical Library, Library For Foreign Literature, and INION in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

;

Novosibirsk Novosibirsk is the largest city and administrative centre of Novosibirsk Oblast and the Siberian Federal District in Russia. As of the 2021 Russian census, 2021 census, it had a population of 1,633,595, making it the most populous city in Siber ...

;

Library of the Russian Academy of Sciences The Library of the Russian Academy of Sciences () is a large state-owned Russian library based in Saint Petersburg on Vasilievsky Island and open to employees of institutions of the Russian Academy of Sciences and scholars with higher education ...

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

; Voronezh State University Library in

Voronezh Voronezh ( ; , ) is a city and the administrative centre of Voronezh Oblast in southwestern Russia straddling the Voronezh River, located from where it flows into the Don River. The city sits on the Southeastern Railway, which connects wes ...