Bamberg State Library

Coordinates: 49°53′30″N 10°52′56″E / 49.89162°N 10.88210°E / 49.89162; 10.88210
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Bamberg State Library
Staatsbibliothek Bamberg
Regional library, research library
EstablishedSeptember 9, 1803 (1803-09-09)
Collection
Sizemore than 566,000 volumes
Legal depositUpper Franconia (since 1987)
Other information
DirectorBettina Wagner
Websitewww.staatsbibliothek-bamberg.de

The Bamberg State Library (German: Staatsbibliothek Bamberg) is a combined

Free State of Bavaria
is responsible for the library.

Overview

The Bamberg State Library supplies the town of Bamberg and the region Upper Franconia with literature for research and higher education purposes, professional work and advanced training. The historically grown holdings of more than 500,000 volumes are continuously supplemented and enlarged by acquisitions in all general fields, and in specialized areas such as the history and geography of (Upper) Franconia, art history and appreciation, manuscripts and the printed book.

It cooperates in all areas of

librarianship with the University Library of Bamberg
.

One of its regional tasks is to acquire documentary material on and of persons who are connected with the region.

More over it gets the

copy of every book published in Upper Franconia and continues to compile a complete bibliography
of the region.

It also provides space for book collections belonging to Bamberg institutions such as the Bamberg

Naturalists (German: Naturforschende Gesellschaft Bamberg), the Bamberg Art Association (German: Kunstverein Bamberg) the E.-T.-A.-Hoffmann-Gesellschaft and the Bamberg group of the Frankenbund
.

Its high esteem to be a

Memory of the World
:

Holdings in figures

  • 566,000 volumes in total
  • 80,000 graphics and photographs
  • 3,600
    incunabula
    (15th century prints)
  • 6,400 manuscripts in total (1,000 medieval manuscripts)
  • 1,650 current journals[1]

History

The nucleus of the collection may be traced back to the emperor

Benedictine monks of the Michaelsberg Abbey
.

Bamberg was the first place where printed books in the German language were illustrated with

incunabula
documents the wide range of book production in the 15th century.

All that remained of these manuscripts and books in the monasteries of the town and bishopric up to 1802/1803 was incorporated into one library (now the Bamberg State Library) during the period of

Jesuit academy and was closed at that time. Bamberg became part of the Electorate of Bavaria. In the course of the 19th century the library was enriched by gifts such as the art historian Joseph Heller's collection, which today comprises 80,000 prints and drawings. The E. T. A. Hoffmann material became a special collection in our times, as did, more recently, autograph books
from the 18th and 19th century.

Building

The Bamberg State Library nowadays is housed in the east wing of the

Johann Leonhard Dientzenhofer on behalf of Prince-Bishop Lothar Franz von Schönborn
. Originally, the administration of the bishopric was placed in that wing of the building.

The so-called Dominikanerräume are part of the library's showrooms which are not open to public. They are so called because of the bookshelves from Bamberg's Dominican monastery that were brought to the library during the secularisation when the monastery was closed down.

The Vierzehnheiligenpavillion on the third floor also belongs to the internal showrooms. It was the prince-bishop's library room. Since 1978, the former wine cellar serves as closed access stacks. The library presents in the entrance hall precious stained glass dating from the 16th and 17th centuries. Joseph Heller, an art historian and collector, left them as legacy to the library. The

reading room can be reached from the entrance hall. In former times, it served the prince-bishop as audience room and summer room. The reading room provides a view over the rose garden
which also was built on behalf of Prince-Bishop Lothar Franz von Schönborn. During the exhibitions taking place several times a year the Sternengewölbe and the former Gartensaal – or Scagliolasaal – can be visited.

References

  1. ^ "The State Library in Numbers". Bamberg State Library. Retrieved 5 June 2022.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bamberg State Library.
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