| Berlin State Library | |
|---|---|
| Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin | |
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 Unter den Linden, one of the two main buildings of the library | |
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| 52°30′26″N13°22′15″E / 52.50722°N 13.37083°E /52.50722; 13.37083 | |
| Location | Unter den Linden 8, Potsdamer Platz 33, Westhafenstraße 1, Berlin, Germany, Germany |
| Type | Universal library,Public library |
| Established | 1661; 364 years ago (1661) |
| Collection | |
| Items collected | books,journals, newspapers, magazines,music autographs,databases, maps,prints, drawings,incunabula and manuscripts |
| Size | 23,110,423[1] Consists of 12.3 million books; 206,700 rare books; 60,100 manuscripts; music autographs; 1,600 estate archives; 25,000 periodicals; 180,000 newspaper volumes; 4,300 databases; 2.7 million microfilms; 13.5 million images at thebpk |
| Legal deposit | Yes, German parliament and government publications[2] |
| Access and use | |
| Access requirements | any person over 16 years of age |
| Circulation | 1.7 million |
| Other information | |
| Budget | ~€16,000,000 |
| Director | Achim Bonte |
| Website | staatsbibliothek-berlin.de |
TheBerlin State Library (German:Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin; officially abbreviated asSBB, colloquiallyStabi) is auniversal library inBerlin, Germany, and a property of the German public cultural organization thePrussian Cultural Heritage Foundation (German:Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz).
Founded in 1661, it is among thelargest libraries in Europe, and one of the most important academic research libraries in the German-speaking world.[3] It collects texts, media and cultural works from all fields across many languages, from all time periods and all countries of the world, and offer them for academic and research purposes.
Prominent items in its collection include the oldest biblical illustrations in the fifth-centuryQuedlinburg Itala fragment, aGutenberg Bible, the main autograph collection ofGoethe, the world's largest collection ofJohann Sebastian Bach's andWolfgang Amadeus Mozart's manuscripts, and the original score ofLudwig van Beethoven'sSymphony No. 9.[4]
The SBB is one of six libraries forming theArbeitsgemeinschaft 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."[5] This creates a "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."[6]
The SBB is one of 12 libraries and archives with significant holdings of historical documents which form theAllianz 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, orZeitungsinformationssystem. ZEFYS "currently provides total of 281990 issues from 192 historical newspapers from Germany and foreign newspapers in german."[7]
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.
In the early period, the fortunes of the State Library rose and fell on royal whims. In 1658Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg decreed that his private books be organized, cataloged and made available to the public. His library opened in 1661 atCölln as the "Library of the Elector" (German:Churfürstliche Bibliothek zu Cölln an der Spree). In 1699,Frederick I more than doubled the collection, extended opening hours and introduced the first Prussianlegal deposit law. In 1701 it was renamed the "Royal Library" (German:Königliche Bibliothek) upon Frederick I's accession as firstKing of Prussia.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 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.[8]
With new resources and authority, construction began on a Royal Library building on theBebelplatz in the center of Berlin. Built between 1775 and 1785 byGeorg Christian Unger to plans byJoseph Emanuel Fischer von Erlach, it was nicknamed theKommode (Chest of drawers) after itsBaroque 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.[9] The Bebelplatz building housed the library until 1914, when the headquarters moved into new, even larger premises onUnter den Linden, designed by court architectErnst von Ihne. This was the height of the library's development before theFirst World War. Today the old Royal building houses the Faculty of Law ofHumboldt University.
At the founding of theWeimar Republic the Royal 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, theGerman Research Foundation).
TheNazi period severely damaged the institution through political intimidation, employee dismissals, restrictions on foreign acquisitions and the effects ofWorld War II. On 10 May 1933 abook burning ceremony was held at theBebelplatz by members of theDeutsche Studentenschaft, theNational Socialist German Students' League,Sturmabteilung "brownshirts" andHitler Youth groups at the instigation of the Propaganda Minister,Joseph Goebbels. TheNazis burned over 20,000 books – mostly from the neighboring University, not the State library itself – including works byThomas Mann,Erich Maria Remarque,Heinrich Heine,Karl Marx and many others. Today a glass plate set into the Bebelplatz, giving a view of empty bookcases, commemorates the event. After anAllied bomb hit theUnter den Linden building in 1941, the various holdings (consisting of some 3 million volumes and over 7,400incunabula) 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 were distributed across theAllied zones of occupation, the library staff had scattered or been killed, and 700,000 volumes had been eitherdestroyed or lost.[10] With the formaldissolution of the State of Prussia in 1947, support for the library ended and the Prussian State Library ceased to exist.
After 1945, parts of the collection that had been hidden in what became theSoviet occupation zone were returned to the war-damagedUnter den Linden building inEast Berlin. It first opened in 1946 as thePublic Scientific Library (German:Öffentliche Wissenschaftliche Bibliothek). When further restoration work was completed in 1955, the library was renamed theGerman 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, including a cache of 1.5 million volumes hidden in apotash mine nearHattorf, and was moved to theUniversity of Marburg in 1946. This collection first opened to the public as theHessian Library (German:Hessische Bibliothek) and in 1949, as the last lost stores arrived, it was renamed theWest German Library (German:Westdeutsche Bibliothek). Those parts of the collection that had been in theFrench occupation zone, mainly atBeuron Archabbey, were gathered to theUniversity of Tübingen. In 1962 the Federal Republic passed a law giving administrative responsibility for all these collections toPrussian Cultural Heritage Foundation and endowed it with State funding. During the 1960s, the various stocks, services and personnel began to be relocated toWest Berlin. To house it all, a grand new building complex on theKulturforum was constructed near theBerlin Wall, just 1.5 km (0.93 mi) away from the library inEast Berlin.[11]
AfterGerman Reunification, the two institutions were formally reunited in 1992. The new West Berlin building and the original East Berlin building became "one library with two homes" and the old State Library was reborn as theBerlin State Library.[12] From 2000 until 2012 Berlin State Library was refurbished by German architectHG Merz. The destroyed reading room, the core of the building, was replaced by a glass cube.
Many important items from the original collection are now located in Poland and territories of the former Soviet Union – declared aswar reparations, sometimes controversially – such as theBerlinka Art Collection. The original score of Beethoven's8th Symphony is a starker example of division: while the first, second and fourth movements are in Berlin, the third is kept inKraków.[13] Conversely, it is estimated that about 10,000 volumes and 9,000 other items in the Berlin State Library are there as a result ofNazi plunder. As such, repatriation and self-criticism about these materials became controversial issues, so in 2005 thePrussian Cultural Heritage Foundation established the Center for Provenance Research to resolve the problems. For example, in 2008 a library user found an encyclopedia entitledReligion 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."[14]
The State Library operates from two major public sites,Haus Unter Den Linden andHaus Potsdamer Straße, called the "Library in Two Homes".[15] There are additional subsidiary locations for newspapers, magazines, and archives not open to the public.
The original main building was built between 1908 and 1913 by thePrussian Construction and Financial Directorate of Berlin, then responsible for public constructions in the city. TheNeo Baroque design is by popularWilhelmine court architectErnst von Ihne and was further adapted byAlexander Baerwald, who was in charge of the construction management. In front of the building is anequestrian statue of Frederick the Great. The building was 40% damaged duringWorld War II, and after thedivision of Berlin wound up inEast Berlin. 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.[16] The central location is now the historical research library housing the collection up to and including 1945.[17]
This is the newer building in theKulturforum on Potsdamer Straße in West Berlin, designed byHans Scharoun with substantial participation byEdgar Wisniewski. Construction began in 1967 to house those parts of the library's evacuated holdings from the westernAllied occupation zones at the end of World War II. After 11 years of construction, it was finally dedicated by Federal PresidentWalter Scheel 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.[18]
Among the library's most precious treasures are thePsalter of Louis the German dating from the 9th century and an elaborately adorned copy of theGutenberg Bible. The oldest handwritten book in the collection is aCopticcodex of the biblicalBook of Proverbs dating from the 3rd century; the oldest printed book is an 8th-century Buddhist text from Japan, theHyakumantó Darani.[4]
The library also has an extensive collection of important music manuscripts, including 80% of all the autographs ofJohann Sebastian Bach andWolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the largest collection in the world. Famous examples includeBach'sMass in B Minor, theSt. Matthew andSt. John Passions, and nearly all of Mozart's operas. In addition toLudwig van Beethoven's 4th, 5th, and 8th Symphonies, the Library also holds the autograph score, autograph leaves, and historic records ofBeethoven'sSymphony No. 9, which was added toUNESCO'sMemory of the World Register in 2001.[19]
Other notable items are a 1491 Map of Germany byNikolaus von Kues, the Atlas ofThe Great Elector (German:Atlas des Großen Kurfürsten), theJahangir-Album from around 1600, and the largest Hebrew Bible and the largest parchment Torah scroll in the world.[4]
Several notable scholars have held positions at the library, among them:
The western library played a starring role inWim Wenders'Wings of Desire. Two angels, the stars of the film, read the thoughts of the library's patrons.
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