Leipzig University Library (), known also as ''Bibliotheca Albertina'', is the central library of the
University of Leipzig
Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...
. It is one of the oldest German university libraries.
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History
The library was founded in 1542 following the Reformation
The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...
by the then Rector of the university, Caspar Borner, who persuaded Moritz, Duke of Saxony
Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...
, to donate the property and buildings of the dissolved Dominican friary of St Paul in Leipzig to the university. The library began in one of the monastery buildings with 1,000 books and around 1,500 manuscripts from the stocks of four secularised Leipzig city monasteries and other dissolved monasteries in Saxony and 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 ...
. Its land and buildings fell in 1543 by donation of the Albertiners Duke Moritz of Saxony to the University of Leipzig
Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...
. In one of these buildings, the Central Paleum, the library collections of several monasteries were brought together.
Due to the strong growth in the number of books, as well as the takeover of the Goethe
Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...
collection by the publisher Salomon Hirzel, and above all due to the increasing production of publishing in the 19th century, a move into a larger building became necessary. Many building designs were submitted to one call, and on 15 and 16 October 1883, a court of appeal discussed the ten proposals selected for the final round and decided on the project by Arwed Rossbach. Building was complete on October 24, 1891. In honor to King Albert of Saxony, the new building was named Bibliotheca Albertina.
In the Second World War, the main building was severely damaged by the air raids on Leipzig on 6 April 1945. The catalogs and stocks, however, had been outsourced and remained largely intact. Approximately 42,000 volumes were lost. Currently some are found in collections of Russian libraries.[ After the war only the undamaged left wing was used. Reconstruction of the main building was a shortage of financial resources. Because of the damage to the main building, the use of the institutes and section libraries has often been shifted in the following decades.
It was not until after the ]German reunification
German reunification () was the process of re-establishing Germany as a single sovereign state, which began on 9 November 1989 and culminated on 3 October 1990 with the dissolution of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic and the int ...
that the extensive restoration and extension of the main building, including the reconstruction of individual buildings, has begun in 1994. The ruins of the right wing were removed entirely, a second cellar floor lifted, and the façade – despite considerable additional costs – was reconstructed in the original way. Renovation, restoration and restoration lasted until 2002.
Today, the main building of the University Library, the Bibliotheca Albertina, is one of a total of 15 locations of the University Library.
Bombing in 1943–1945 destroyed two-thirds of the magnificent Neo-Renaissance Bibliotheca Albertina building.
Three famous librarians worked at the institution: Joachim Feller (from 1675), Christian Gottlieb Jöcher (from 1742 to 1758), and Ernst Gotthelf Gersdorf (from 1833).[ Since 2005 Ulrich Johannes Schneider has been director of the library.
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Collections
The Bibliotheca Albertina is the center for the media acquisition with a central business operation for numerous branch libraries as well as for the interlibrary loan. Central technical facilities such as bookbinding and restoration works are also located in the Bibliotheca Albertina.
The collection currently comprises over 5.5 million volumes, with 8,700 manuscripts and 3,600 incunabula, and some 25,000 prints dating from the 16th century,[ and around 6,500 journals. Approximately 3.5 million of the total stock is now stocked in the magazines, the remaining stocks are freely accessible in the three main readings rooms.
In addition, the library has a series of special collections, including about 8,700 manuscripts, of which approx. 3,200 in the special collection of oriental manuscripts, approx. 3,600 incunabulae, 16th century prints and approx. 173,000 autographs. There is also a significant collection of Papyrus and Ostracs. Among the collections is the Papyrus Ebers, one of the oldest medical treatises ever (around 1525 BC) or the Leipziger Weltchronik, the remains of the oldest preserved world chronicle (2nd century after Christ). Papyrus Ebers is the longest and oldest surviving medical manuscript from ancient Egypt, dated to around 1600 BC.
In 2010 the library was given 12 sketchbooks and a number of diaries of the late Leipzig artist ]Werner Tübke
Werner Tübke (30 July 1929 in Schönebeck, Germany – 27 May 2004 in Leipzig, Germany) was a German painter, best known for his monumental Early Bourgeois Revolution in Germany, Peasants' War Panorama located in Bad Frankenhausen. Associated wi ...
.
In 2014 an early, unknown manuscript fragment of the Parzival
''Parzival'' () is a medieval chivalric romance by the poet and knight Wolfram von Eschenbach in Middle High German. The poem, commonly dated to the first quarter of the 13th century, centers on the Arthurian hero Parzival (Percival in English) ...
of Wolfram von Eschenbach
Wolfram von Eschenbach (; – ) was a German knight, poet and composer, regarded as one of the greatest epic poets of medieval German literature. As a Minnesinger, he also wrote lyric poetry.
Life
Little is known of Wolfram's life. Ther ...
was found in the holdings of the handwriting center. The fragment is housed in a handwriting book of the Domstiftsbibliothek Naumburg
Naumburg () is a town in (and the administrative capital of) the district Burgenlandkreis, in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany. It has a population of around 33,000. The Naumburg Cathedral became a UNES ...
and served as bookbinding material in the 15th century.
The Leipzig University Library owns parts of the Codex Sinaiticus
The Codex Sinaiticus (; Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), also called the Sinai Bible, is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old Testament, including the deuterocanonica ...
, a Bible manuscript from the 4th century, brought from Sinai in 1843 by Constantin von Tischendorf
Constantin is an Aromanian language, Aromanian, Megleno-Romanian language, Megleno-Romanian and Romanian language, Romanian male given name. It can also be a surname.
For a list of notable people called Constantin, see Constantine (name).
See ...
. The Codex contains large parts of the Old Testament and a complete New Testament in ancient Greek, and is one of the most important known manuscripts of the Greek Old Testament and the New Testament. It is the oldest fully preserved copy of the New Testament.
Since 2014, the library has been developing the specialist information service for media, communication and film science "adlr.link". A central search portal for scientists has been online since 2016.
Gallery
File:Fotothek df roe-neg 0006414 016 Blick auf das Albertinum.jpg, damaged main building in 1953
File:Bibliotheca Albertina, Eingangshalle 01.jpg, Bibliotheca Albertina entrance hall
File:Bibliotheca Albertina, Lesesaal West.jpg, Bibliotheca Albertina reading room west
File:Bibliotheca Albertina, Lesesaal Mitte.jpg, Bibliotheca Albertina central reading room
See also
* Architecture of Leipzig – Italian Neorenaissance
References
Further reading
* Ekkehard Henschke, ed. ''Die Bibliotheca Albertina in Leipzig. Festschrift zum Abschluss des Wiederaufbaus im Jahre 2002''. Munich: Saur, 2002.
* Sophia Manns. ''Zwischen Denkmalschutz und Nutzeranspruch. Wiederaufbau und Erweiterung der Bibliotheca Albertina in Leipzig''. Berliner Handreichungen zur Bibliothekswissenschaft 151. Berlin: Institut für Bibliothekswissenschaft, 200
Text online
External links
Webauftritt der Universitätsbibliothek Leipzig
{{Authority control
Leipzig University
Academic libraries in Germany