Canton Thurgau library, Regional archive and public library in Frauenfeld, Switzerland.
The Canton Thurgau Library in Frauenfeld is a collection of books, documents, and research materials focused on regional history and contemporary subjects. The building at Promenadenstrasse 12 provides access to digital databases and various research options for different needs.
Founded on 29 October 1805 as the administrative library of the canton of Thurgau created in 1803, it began with law books kept in a cupboard in the private home of its first librarian, government councillor Johannes Morell. After the Thurgau monasteries were dissolved in 1848, the libraries of Fischingen and Ittingen arrived in 1852, followed by Kreuzlingen in 1862 and St. Katharinental in 1869. The purchase of the Frauenfeld city library in 1864 turned it into a public library; since 1913 it has occupied the former cantonal school building on the Promenade.
The library's core collection, the Thurgoviana, was established by cantonal librarian Johannes Meyer (in office 1880–1912), who gathered all literature concerning Thurgau under a single shelfmark. Since 1864, when the Frauenfeld city library was bought, it has also served as the town's public library. Its historical holdings include around 400 manuscripts and 643 incunabula.
The library occupies the former Kantonsschule building at Promenade 12 in Frauenfeld, where it moved in 1913; the building was fully renovated in 2005. The open-access section and the study library were merged again that year, so visitors can browse freely and request items from the stacks. The electronic catalogue lists the library's own holdings plus those of cantonal administrative offices, around 100,000 titles.
Among the library's holdings are around 800 incunabula, early printed books from before 1501, catalogued by cantonal librarian Friedrich Schaltegger after 1912. The historical stock also includes some 400 manuscripts and over 600 post-incunabula.
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