Research Library in Olomouc, Scientific library in central Olomouc, Czech Republic

The Research Library in Olomouc holds 1,451 manuscripts, 1,700 incunabula and nearly 80,000 old prints. Since 1959 the neighbouring Red Church has served as a book store for 250,000 volumes. The online catalogue lists over 1,200,000 titles.

Founded in 1566 when Bishop Vilém Prusinovský invited the Jesuits to Olomouc, the library served the Jesuit college and then the University of Olomouc until 1860. Swedish troops looted much of the collection during the Thirty Years' War, and many volumes ended up in Stockholm and Uppsala. After the Jesuit order was dissolved in 1773, the library passed to state control.

The collection holds around 1451 manuscripts about Central European history and approximately 1700 early printed books from European printers. These materials show how the library has long connected to Europe's scholarly world.

The main building is open Monday through Friday from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM, offering different working environments for various research needs. Visitors should know that accessing specialized collections may require advance requests or registration.

The institution ranks among the two oldest and three largest scientific libraries in the Czech Republic. This standing comes from centuries of steady collection building and its role in the region's academic development.