Greifswald University Library
Greifswald University Library | |
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founding | 1456 and 1604 |
Duration | approx. 3.1 million volumes |
Library type | University library |
place | Greifswald , Germany |
ISIL | DE-9 |
Website | [1] |
The Greifswald University Library has existed since 1604 and is one of the oldest university libraries in Germany. Two predecessor libraries at the Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Artists had existed since 1456, the year the university was founded. It is the central library of the University of Greifswald .
Today's library
In addition to the old building (Old University Library) designed by Martin Gropius near the main university building with the oldest book holdings, the newer holdings in the Central University Library on Berthold-Beitz-Platz and the departmental library opened in December 2015 on Friedrich-Loeffler-Straße are closed Find.
In the libraries there are a total of almost 1000 workstations with internet access available to users. There are still 36 individual carrels and 9 group study rooms for free registration.
Duration
The inventory contains around 3.1 million volumes. This includes around 2.2 million books. There are also around 5,700 magazines that are kept up to date. The media inventory is interdisciplinary. Subjects that are not taught at the university are also represented.
From 1998 to 2014 the library was assigned the "Special Collection Area Baltic Countries " by the DFG , which further strengthened the library's importance as a major collection point for Northern European and Baltic literature.
Locations
- Central University Library (subjects: law and economics, psychology, natural sciences, medicine)
- Departmental library (subjects: humanities, theology)
- Old University Library (special collections of old books and Pomeranica , art history, music)
- Am Schießwall magazine library (external magazine, not accessible to users)
Predecessor libraries
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b7/Alte_Universit%C3%A4tsbibliothek.jpg/220px-Alte_Universit%C3%A4tsbibliothek.jpg)
The university's founder Heinrich Rubenow bequeathed his own library to the university in his will of 1456, which was worth over 1000 guilders. These books would go to law school, but that legacy appears to have not been fulfilled. There is no evidence from the early days that the lawyers had their own library. On the other hand, the existence of a library is very likely for the artist faculty ; Individual notes and a list of books in the deanery book indicate this. Rubenow reports in the winter semester 1459/1460 that in "[...] that time [...] for the first time a room in the Great College of Artists was determined and prepared for the library" and by himself and by Dietrich Stephani, Johannes Parleberch and Nicolaus Degantz books were given. Rector Hinrich Nacke also left several volumes to the university in 1461. Further donations followed. On May 29, 1463 a first user regulation was mentioned, in which a return was specified within eight days.
An inventory list drawn up by Ludwig Gotthard Kosegarten was later edited and completed by Theodor Pyl . The list contains 73 volumes, some with multiple scripts. What became of this first library is unknown.
A book order from the Wittenberg bookseller Samuel Selfisch , initiated on behalf of the university by Friedrich Runge around 1603/1604, is generally considered to be the hour of birth of the university library in Greifswald. The library moved into the Ernst Ludwig Building, built in 1597, according to J. Fait (1965) initially on the ground floor of the east wing. In 1607 the dean of the artist faculty Peter Grabow was appointed as the first librarian . In 1696 the library moved to the upper floor on the north side. Benjamin Potzern , professor of logic and mathematics, was appointed librarian . In the following year the library was enlarged and provided with windows, the dean Christian Saalbach put the books on new shelves.
The library in the Ernst-Ludwig-Bau suffered from the leaking roof, which, according to Augustin von Balthasar , ensured that the damp books "[...] froze together in winter, but hardened in summer". In the new building of the college, a state hall for the library was set up in 1750; this now serves as the auditorium of the university. The dedication is on the front wall
"QVAM / SECVLVM LITTERIS AMICVM / INSTRVXIT / MICIVS AVXIT ORNAVIT / OPTIMO CVIQVE / PATET / BIBLIOTHECA / MDCCL"
“ German : The one who established an age friendly to science, enlarged and embellished an even friendlier one, is open to everyone: the library. 1750 "
In 1882 the first independent library building was put into operation. The building in Rubenowstrasse designed by Martin Gropius is reminiscent of the Italian Renaissance with its ancient aesthetics. The special thing about the new building is the move away from the hall library with surrounding wall shelves, which was common up until then, towards the magazine library. After the library wing opened in 1870 in the main building of the University of Rostock, the old library is the first independent building of a library built using the magazine system in Germany. The bookcases are self-supporting cast iron constructions. The original building comprised 3 by 7 window axes.
In order to be able to accommodate the growing stock, the building was extended by 4 window axes in length between 1890 and 1892 by the government master builder Albert Brinckmann. Today the Old University Library houses the special collections “Old Book & Manuscripts” and “Pomeranica”; The building is a historical monument.
Librarians and leaders
Among the known librarians belonged to Christian Saalbach . Jakob Wallenius compiled the real, nominal and repository catalogs as a sub-librarian until 1796. Otto Gilbert was director of the library from 1886 to 1899, Johannes Luther from 1921 to 1927, Joseph Deutsch from 1927 to 1932. From 1946 to 1955 Wilhelm Braun directed the library.
literature
- Hans Georg Thümmel : The early history of the Greifswald university library. In: Baltic Studies , New Series, Volume 94, Ludwig Verlag, Kiel 2008, pages 29–42.
- Arwed Bouvier: Instructions for use - Greifswald University Library. Greifswald, 1975. ( Digitized in the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Digital Library)
- Catalogus librorum quibus Bibliotheca Regia Universitatis Gryphisvaldensis (list of new acquisitions of the University Library Greifswald, published 1835–1848 / 1849) - Digitized copies in the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Digital Library
- Michael Hammermeister: The Greifswald University Library. Despite the permanently tight budget, continuity for four centuries . In: The Pommersche Zeitung . Volume 67, episode 33 of August 19, 2017, pp. 12-13 and 16, 13 fig.
See also
Web links
- Library homepage
- Entry in the handbook of the historical book collections online
Individual evidence
- ↑ Augustin von Balthasar: Historical News of the Academic Buildings and Houses , 1750.
- ↑ Hans Georg Thümmel: The early history of the Greifswald university library. In: Baltic Studies , New Series, Volume 94, Ludwig Verlag, Kiel 2008, pages 29–42.
- ↑ Greifswald-Stralsund yearbook . Volume 5, 1965, page 115.