Berlin State Library, State library on Unter den Linden, Germany
The Berlin State Library operates two separate buildings across the city that together hold more than 25 million books, manuscripts, maps, newspapers, and digital materials available for public use. These collections span different time periods, with each location serving researchers and visitors with its own focus and resources.
Frederick William, the ruling prince of Brandenburg, founded this library in 1661 to serve as the court collection. Over the following centuries it developed into one of Germany's most important research institutions.
The library's name changed with each political era: Electoral Library from 1661, Royal Library from 1701, Prussian State Library from 1918, and today's name since 1992. Its collections include the Quedlinburg Itala fragment, a Gutenberg Bible, Goethe's autographs, and the original score of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.
Visitors aged 16 and older can obtain a reader's card to access the collections during opening hours. It helps to check ahead which building houses the specific materials you need.
The library holds the world's largest collection of manuscripts by Johann Sebastian Bach and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, along with the original score of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. It also keeps the fifth-century Quedlinburg Itala fragment, among the oldest biblical illustrations, and a Gutenberg Bible.
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