Berlin State Library
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
It has been suggested that Berlinka (seized German art) be merged into this article or section. (Discuss) |
The Berlin State Library (German: Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin) is a library in Berlin, Germany and a property of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation.
Contents |
[edit] History
The Berlin State Library was founded in 1661 by Frederick William of Brandenburg as "Churfürstliche Bibliothek" at Cölln an der Spree. In 1701, the library was renamed "Royal Library at Berlin" and kept this name until the end of monarchy in Germany in 1918, then renamed to "Prussian State Library".
On May 10, 1933 a book burning ceremony was held by members of the S.A. ("brownshirts") and Nazi youth groups, at Bebelplatz on the instigation of the Propaganda Minister, Joseph Goebbels. The Nazis burned around 20,000 books, most of which were taken from the library, including works by Thomas Mann, Erich Maria Remarque, Heinrich Heine, Karl Marx and many other authors. Today a glass plate set into the Bebelplatz, giving a view of empty bookcases, commemorates this event. During World War II the entire holdings (at the time some three million books and other materials) were hidden to safety in 30 monasteries, castles and abandoned mines. A part of its collections were returned to the original Berlin site at Unter den Linden (East Berlin) after 1945, and some relocated items were initially brought to West Germany, and stored after the late 1970s in the new building designed by Hans Scharoun in the Kulturforum on Potsdamer Straße in West Berlin.
Many items of the collection are located in Poland and the territories of the former Soviet Union as the recompense like the collection dubbed Berlinka by Poles.
From 1992, the reunited Berlin State Library – Prussian Cultural Heritage provides a service at both its sites in the district of Mitte – Unter den Linden 8 and Potsdamer Straße 33.
[edit] Inventory
- 10 million books
- 4,400 incunabula
- 18,300 occidental manuscripts
- 40,000 oriental manuscripts
- 250,000 autographs
- 66,350 music autographs
- 1,400 personal archives
- 450,000 editions of sheet music
- 960,000 maps and atlases
- 38,000 subscription periodicals and monographic series
- 180,000 early newspaper volumes and 400 subscription newspapers
- Diverse electronic databases
- 2.3 million microfiches and microfilms
- 13.5 million images in the picture archive
[edit] In film
The western library played a starring role in Wim Wenders' Wings of Desire. Two angels, the stars of the film, read the thoughts of the library's patrons.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
