Court library
A court library is a library that is directly related to a princely residence.
history
For the first time a court library for Charlemagne was recorded .
Widespread in Germany since the 16th century (also known as palace or princely library), court libraries at the beginning of the 19th century experienced significant increases in holdings due to secularization ( Reichsdeputationshauptschluss 1803), especially of medieval manuscripts and incunabula , as most of the monastery and incunabula belong to them Cathedral libraries of the Reich were supplied.
After the First World War , the court libraries were mostly converted into state or state libraries . Individual court libraries such as the Fürstenbergische Hofbibliothek Donaueschingen remained in private ownership.
Important former court libraries can be found in Munich (former court library of the dukes and kings of Bavaria , now Bayerische Staatsbibliothek ), Stuttgart (former court library of the dukes and kings of Württemberg , now in the Württemberg state library - however, all prints after 1750 in the former Stuttgart court library are in Second World War burned) and Berlin (former court library of the Prussian kings, now Berlin State Library ).
Outside Germany there are important court libraries in Vienna (former court library of the Emperors of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation , then the Emperor of Austria , now the Austrian National Library ) and in Luxembourg .
Remarks
- ↑ See for example Maria Sophia Buhl, Lotte Kurras: The manuscripts of the former court library Sutttgart (= The manuscripts of the Württemberg State Library Stuttgart. Volume II, IV, 2.) Wiesbaden 1969.