Swiss National Library, National library in Bern, Switzerland
The Swiss National Library is a memory institution in central Bern that collects and preserves over five million documents. The building, with its clear modernist design, houses books, journals, newspapers, maps, and official publications that document the written heritage of the country.
The institution was founded in 1895 to gather the written heritage of the country. After years in temporary spaces, it moved to its current building on Hallwylstrasse in 1931, where it has since served as the central memory archive.
The library preserves the literary legacy of authors from all four language regions of the country, showing how different traditions and voices converge in one place. As you explore the collections, you notice how diverse the written culture here really is.
Entry is free and the building is centrally located in Bern, easy to reach by public transport. You can explore the spaces during weekday opening hours freely, though arranging ahead is helpful if you want to view specific collections.
The archive systematically collects all publications created in the country since 1848, not through legal mandate but through voluntary arrangements with publishers. This extensive collection allows visitors to trace the diversity and continuity of the land through written records spanning nearly two centuries.
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