Slovak National Library
The Slovak National Library (Slovenská národná knižnica) is the national library of Slovakia .
The library was founded in 1941. It is based in Martin and was originally integrated into Matica slovenská , the Slovak cultural institute. In 2000 it was separated from Matica slovenská. Since then, it exists as an independent institution and bears the official name "National Library of the Slovak Republic" ( slow. Slovenska narodna knižnica ). Today it is housed in the so-called "third building" of Matica slovenská .
history
The roots of the creation go back to Emperor Franz Joseph . The October diploma promised all peoples of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy equal rights. However, the Hungarians were able to prevent extensive rights of the Slovaks, so that the emperor only approved the establishment of three grammar schools and the Matica slovenská in 1863. This independent association in Martin sought to collect books and documents related to Slovak culture. In addition to eminent scientists, the association also had a broad membership base throughout Slovakia.
The basis of the library were the collections of the state employee Martin Hamuliak (1789-1859) and the theologian Michal Rešetka . Hamuliak donated his collection to the grammar school in Banská Bystrica in view of the association . According to the dedication document, his collection comprised 1,046 titles. Many of the books were related to Slovakia, but were not written in Slovak. Books of ancient literature were also available. The library of Rešetka, who also died before the foundation of the association, came into the hands of the association through the Bishop of Nitra .
The first place where the collections were kept was the official residence of Bishop Štefan Moyzes (1797–1869), the first chairman of Matica slovenská, in Banská Bystrica.
Even in its early days, the National Library had numerous donors who made books available for the collection. These were not only Slovaks, but also other Slavic institutions and people, including Tsar Alexander II.
After the death of Bishop Moyze, the collection was transferred to Martin and housed in a separate building and made accessible to the public.
In 1875 the Hungarian Ministry of the Interior restricted the association's ability to act. Finally, the association was completely dissolved as anti-patriotic. At this point in time there were around 10,000 prints and 20,000 duplicates in the collection. They were still kept in the original building and only brought to the Nitra County Museum in 1902 . The largest of the collection remained in Nitra, only small parts went to the Széchényi National Library in Budapest . Subsequent investigations showed that around 28% of the inventory was related to Slovak and was written in both Slovak and Hungarian or German.
In 1890 the Association Museum and Library (Múzeum a Bibliotéka) was founded to continue the work of the banned Matica slovenská . So that the collections could not be confiscated by the Hungarian authorities, they were transferred into the possession of the association members in accordance with the statutes. In 1896 the holdings were given to the Slovak Museum Society (Muzeálna slovenská spoločnos in) in Martin. This society also worked as an association and was founded on the initiative of the Catholic priest, archaeologist and botanist Andrej Kmeť .
Both in the period up to the First World War and from 1921, when Slovakia belonged to the newly founded instead of Czechoslovakia , numerous donors continuously expanded the collections through inheritances and gifts. In 1910 the collection comprised around 60,000 volumes.
A move to a new building with a large warehouse in 1927 made it possible to expand the collections more quickly. After the reopening of Matica slovenská in 1919, the association decided to return its collections to Matica. It was not until the 1940s that the holdings of the Hungarian National Library were returned.
Independently of the Matica slovenská, there were already considerations in the 1930s to build a national library. In 1941 it was actually founded. This library was also run as an association and was also located in Martin, which thus had two scientific libraries. With immediate effect, the new national library received the usual deposit copies, but had no space to manage this collection. Soon a move to Bratislava to the Comenius University in Bratislava was considered.
Matica slovenská was not wanted by the communists in the post-war period and, so as not to go under, it merged with the national library in 1953. In the following year everything was nationalized with the function of a bibliographical-library institute. The Center for All Librarianship in Slovakia was created. After the abolition of numerous monasteries and churches, large stocks of the libraries fell to the national library. Noble libraries were also added.
In the mid-1970s, the National Library moved to a new building where it is still located today. When moving, large holdings were cataloged that had not previously been recorded.
Since 1993, due to various restitution laws , confiscated stocks have been returned to their original owners.
The Slovak National Library is now the largest library in the Slovak Republic with a book inventory of 4,900,000 copies.
Web links
- Slovenská národná knižnica Official Site
- Slovak National Library (German)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Law: NRSR č. 126/2015
- ↑ a b The so-called "third building" of Matica slovenská was built between 1963 and 1975 based on designs by the architects Dušan Kuzma (* 1927, † 2008) and Anton Cimmermann. In 2005 it was transferred for the exclusive use of the Slovak National Library. Today Matica slovenská has its headquarters in the so-called "Second Building" from the 1920s.
- ↑ Documents on the autonomy policy of the Slovak People's Party Hlinkas ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Page 20, accessed November 10, 2009.
