Bibliotheca Windhagiana

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The Bibliotheca Windhagiana is a rich book collection with around 20,000 books that Joachim Enzmilner brought together in the Windhaag Castle that he built between 1656 and 1670.

After Enzmilner's death, the library was initially set up as a public library in the Dominican Convent in Vienna on the basis of a will , expanded to 30,000 books and later assigned to the university library of the University of Vienna .

Origin of the books

Joachim Enzmilner inherited some of the books from his father. He expanded the book collection by acquiring the libraries of several aristocratic and other people (including Helmhart Jörger von Schloss Steyregg ) and by buying them from booksellers .

Library in the former Windhaag Castle

The library already contained around 16,000 books in 1656, making it the largest library in the state above the Enns at the time and occupying three large, vaulted halls with large windows on both sides. The vaulted ceilings were decorated with stucco work and matching paintings.

The portal to the library was closed with an iron door showing the painting of the god Mercury . On either side of the door were statues depicting theology and jurisprudence , while Hippocrates (as a representative of medicine ) and Aristotle (as a representative of philosophy ) sat further to the side . On the cornice, to the right and left of the Windhager coat of arms, there were representations of mathematics and ethics .

The library was divided into three parts:

  • The Bibliotheca antiqua only contained books from the earliest times ( incunabula ) up to 1550 and was 22 meters long, 6 meters wide and 4 meters high. It was divided into ten sections with theological, legal, medical, historical, mathematical, philosophical, ethical, rhetorical, poetic and linguistic books. The individual departments were decorated with depictions of ancient gods and people that matched the respective themes. Between the bookshelves, in the corridors, were eight desks of the same type. They were filled with books, with the first three desks locked and containing forbidden books with "strange spiritual privileges".
  • The Bibliotheca nova comprised books from the years 1550 to 1650 and was 24 meters long, 6 meters wide and 4 meters high. It was also divided into ten sections and decorated with appropriate representations.
  • The Bibliotheca moderna was the repository for books that had been published since 1650. It was 16 meters long, 6 meters wide and 4 meters high.

The Dominican priest Hyazinth Marianus (Fidler), who also wrote the Topographia Windhagiana, was busy for years with the order of the book collections.

Foundation of the library

Based on the will of Joachim Enzmüller, the library was brought to Vienna after his death in 1678 and placed in a part of the Dominican Convention near the city gate under the name Bibliotheca Windhagiana and made accessible to the public. A printed catalog with the title Bibliotheca Windhagiana appeared in Vienna in 1733. After a further 6,000 books from the abandoned Landscape Academy were added in 1764, the library finally consisted of around 30,000 books. Emperor Joseph II ordered the library to be taken over by the University of Vienna's library.

literature

  • Georg Grüll : History of the castle and the rule Windhag near Perg. In: Yearbook of the Upper Austrian Museum Association. 87th volume, Linz 1937, ISSN  0379-0819 , especially part 2, prehistory pp. 188–216 (PDF; 2.6 MB) in the forum OoeGeschichte.at, “Windhag and Joachim Enzmilner” pp. 216–278 (PDF; 9 MB ) in the forum OoeGeschichte.at, "Beilagen und Tables" pp. 279–311 (PDF; 2.2 MB) in the forum OoeGeschichte.at.
  • Walpurga Oppeker: Joachim Enzmilner, Count of Windhag (1600–1678). Case studies on educational patronage in early modern times in Austria above and below the Enns. In: Joachim Bahlcke and Thomas Winkelbauer (Eds.): School foundations and student financing Educational patronage in the field of tension between denomination, national patriotism and early modern nationality in the Bohemian, Austrian and Hungarian countries, 1500–1800 (= publications by the Institute for Austrian Historical Research.) Vienna / Munich 2011, pp. 197–228.
  • Walpurga Oppeker: Book owner's mark of Count Joachim von Windhag. In: Biblos. Contributions to books, libraries and scriptures. ISSN  0006-2022 , volume 2011/1, pp. 137–150.
  • Walpurga Oppeker: On the checkered history of the Bibliotheca Windhagiana. In: Yearbook for the History of the City of Vienna. ISSN  1027-8788 , volume 69/71, 2013/2015, pp. 159–307.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Karl Joseph Bouginé , Christoph August Heumann, Karl Friedrich Bouginé: Handbook he general literary history. Zurich 1789 to 1802.