''Zentralbibliothek Zürich'' (Zürich Central Library) is a
library
A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...
in
Zürich
Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...
, Switzerland. It is the main library of both the city and the
University of Zurich
The University of Zurich (UZH, ) is a public university, public research university in Zurich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 from the existing colleges of the ...
, housed in the ''
Predigerkloster'', the former Black Friars' abbey, in the old town's
Rathaus quarter.
The ''Zentralbibliothek'' currently houses some 5.1 million items, among these 3.9 million printed volumes, 124,000 manuscripts, 243,000 maps and 560,000 microfiches.
History
The library was founded in 1914 by a merger of the former cantonal and city libraries. Its history ultimately goes back to the ''Stiftsbibliothek'' of the
Grossmünster
The Grossmünster (; "great minster") is a Romanesque-style Protestant church in Zürich, Switzerland. It is one of the four major churches in the city (the others being the Fraumünster, Predigerkirche, and St. Peterskirche). Its congregation ...
abbey, first attested in 1259. Much of the abbey's library was lost in the
Swiss Reformation
The Protestant Reformation in Switzerland was promoted initially by Huldrych Zwingli, who gained the support of the magistrate, Mark Reust, and the population of Zürich in the 1520s. It led to significant changes in civil life and state matte ...
, especially in an incident of
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 politic ...
on 14 September 1525, reducing it to a total inventory of 470 volumes. From 1532,
Konrad Pellikan
Konrad Pellikan (; ; sometimes anglicized as ''Conrad Pellican''; 8 January 1478 – 6 May 1556) was a German Protestant theologian, humanist, Protestant reformer and Christian Hebraist who worked chiefly in Switzerland.
Life
Pellikan w ...
(1478–1556) began rebuilding the ''Stiftsbibliothek'', especially with the purchase of
Zwingli
Huldrych or Ulrich Zwingli (1 January 1484 – 11 October 1531) was a Swiss Christian theologian, musician, and leader of the Reformation in Switzerland. Born during a time of emerging Swiss patriotism and increasing criticism of the Swi ...
's private library, and the library catalogue in 1551 lists 770 volumes. The city library had been established in 1634, and its policy to allow access only to citizens of Zürich led to disputes with the university, which led to the establishment of a cantonal library in 1835, built from some 3,500 volumes with 14,000 titles of the ''Stiftsbibliothek'', some 340 volumes of the recent University Library (since 1833) and some 1,700 volumes of the ''Gymnasiumsbibliothek'' (since 1827).
Cultural heritage
Predigerkirche and the adjoint ''Musikabteilung'' (literally: music department) are listed in the
as a ''Class object''.
See also
*
Pestalozzi-Bibliothek Zürich, a public library network in Zürich
References
External links
*
Main public library catalog (NEBIS)
Libraries in Zurich
University of Zurich
Buildings and structures in the canton of Zürich
Cultural property of national significance in the canton of Zurich
Culture of Zurich
Academic libraries in Switzerland
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