Württemberg State Library

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Württemberg State Library
Wuerttemberg State Library 2005 05a.jpg
Württemberg State Library

founding February 11, 1765
Duration Over 6 million media units
Library type Regional library
place Stuttgart coordinates: 48 ° 46 ′ 37.8 ″  N , 9 ° 11 ′ 6.2 ″  EWorld icon
ISIL DE-24
operator State of Baden-Württemberg
management Rupert Schaab
Website http://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/

The Württemberg State Library (abbreviation WLB ) is a large academic universal library based in Stuttgart .

assignment

Together with the Badische Landesbibliothek (BLB) in Karlsruhe , it is the regional library for Baden-Württemberg , whereby the WLB is specifically responsible for the administrative districts of Stuttgart and Tübingen . The state library is particularly dedicated to the procurement, indexing, archiving and provision of literature on Württemberg , the so-called Württembergica . Together with BLB, it also has the right to deposit copies for Baden-Württemberg (since 1964, previously only for Württemberg) and is therefore an archive library.

Both libraries jointly create and publish the Baden-Württemberg State Bibliography . Under the name Baden-Württembergisches Online-Archiv, the two libraries also cooperate in the online archiving of Internet pages relating to Baden-Württemberg.

Since the expansion of the Technical University of Stuttgart to become a full University of Stuttgart in 1967, the WLB has taken on the supply of literature for the humanities subjects of the university , in line with its existing focus on the humanities , and thus functions as a university library as well as a university library for the neighboring music college ( Hochschule for Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart ) and the Kunsthochschule ( State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart ). About 97% of the inventory is placed in closed magazines .

With a holdings of over 6 million media units, the Württemberg State Library is the largest academic library in Baden-Württemberg.

Stocks

Over 6 million media units, including (as of March 13, 2020):

history

Locations and names

The Württemberg State Library has changed its location six times and its name five times.

year building place Street
1765 Beck's house Ludwigsburg Stuttgarter Strasse 12/1
1767 Count house Ludwigsburg Schlossstrasse 29/31
1777 Mansion Stuttgart Marketplace
1820 Invalid House Stuttgart Konrad-Adenauer-Strasse 8
1886 New building in 1886 Stuttgart Konrad-Adenauer-Strasse 8
1970 New building in 1970 Stuttgart Konrad-Adenauer-Strasse 8
     
year Surname
1765 Ducal public library
1803 Electoral Public Library
1806 Royal Public Library
1901 Royal State Library
1921 Württemberg State Library

Seat 1–2: Ludwigsburg

Carl Eugene. Painting by Pompeo Batoni from the years 1753–1756, which was part of the library's founding furnishings and which now hangs in the catalog room.

The library was founded by Duke Carl Eugen on February 11, 1765, his 37th birthday, as the Ducal Public Library . Its first location was the Beck'sche Haus (today Stuttgarter Straße 12/1) in the then Württemberg capital of Ludwigsburg . What was remarkable about the establishment of the library was that, according to its foundation diploma, the library was open to everyone from the start, "with the sole exception of the livery servants". The Duke, to whom his library was a matter close to his heart and who was the chief librarian for the rest of his life, had therefore not created another court library , as was still common at the time, but an institution that already had essential features of a modern library. The acquisition guidelines also aimed to represent all specialist areas in the portfolio. In 1767 the library moved to the Grafenhaus at Schloßstraße 29/31 in Ludwigsburg.

Seat 3: mansion

In 1777 the library was relocated to Stuttgart, which had been the Württemberg residence again since 1775. The manor house from 1435 , a large wooden structure directly on Stuttgart's market square, housed the library, which was reopened there on February 12, 1777. Because of the wood construction, there was a high risk of fire and the librarians were busy with precautionary and defensive measures.

Karl Eugen had the ambition to establish one of the leading libraries in Germany. The basis of the holdings were the library of the Ludwigsburg residence, started by Duke Eberhard Ludwig , and the books acquired by the first librarian Joseph Uriot ; together around 10,000 volumes. The deposit copy, which had existed in Württemberg since 1710, was transferred from the government council's library to the new library. The ducal antiques collection and the medal cabinet were also added to the library. The Duke personally took care of the expansion of the holdings, was constantly on the move in matters relating to the library and, at the expense of considerable sums, bought various collections, including two large Bible collections from the Copenhagen preacher Josias Lorck and the Nuremberg archdeacon Georg Wolfgang Panzer , which provided the basis for the large Bible collection of WLB formed. After the library was moved to Stuttgart, a number of government libraries from all over the country were added to the inventory.

Towards the end of the Duke's life, the library had reached 100,000 volumes, and parts of the holdings had to be removed from the manor house. Although Karl Eugen's successors initially showed little interest in the library and drastically restricted the purchase of new books as early as 1794, a few months after his death, the holdings continued to grow. From 1803, the libraries of the monasteries , which had come to Württemberg and been abolished in the course of secularization , such as Weingarten , Zwiefalten or Wiblingen , provided growth . Large parts of the holdings, especially the valuable manuscripts, did not go to the public library, however, but to the royal reference library , an old- style royal library created by King Friedrich in 1810 . Only later did these holdings go to the State Library , and later the entire Royal Reference Library , from 1886 the Royal Court Library.

Seat 4: Invalidenhaus

Due to a lack of space, the library, now the Royal Public Library , moved in 1820 to the Invalidenhaus at Neckarstrasse 8, which was originally built in 1810 for an invalid regiment. That was the location where the library is still located today.

  • 1st seat: Beck'sches Haus in Ludwigsburg, 2020

  • 2. Headquarters: Grafenbau and ambassadorial building in Ludwigsburg, 2020

  • 3rd seat: mansion, 1738.

  • 4th seat: Invalidenhaus, around 1860.

  • 5. Headquarters: New building in 1886, 1889.

  • 6. Headquarters: New building 1970, 2005.

Seat 5: New building in 1886

Royal State Library

The invalids' house was also a wooden structure, and because of the risk of fire, the library repeatedly pushed for a new stone building, which was finally built from 1878 to 1886 under the executive architect Theodor von Landauer at (almost) the same place. Adolf von Donndorf was responsible for the facade decoration with reliefs and capitals . Wilhelm Heyd, who also emerged as a historian, was the head of the library at that time .

After his appointment as king, King Friedrich I renamed the library the Royal Public Library , in 1901 it was renamed the Royal State Library and, after the end of the monarchy in 1921, the Württemberg State Library .

During the Second World War , on the night of September 12th to 13th, 1944, the library building burned down almost completely in a heavy air raid on Stuttgart. Only the separately standing administration building (and with it the library catalogs) could be saved from the conflagration. Any inventory that had not been swapped out was burned. Over 400,000 volumes, around half of the total holdings at that time, were lost; including all of the newer literature from 1930, complete specialist groups, many newspapers and magazines and also most of the former court library. The other half of the inventory, including most of the valuables, was fortunately removed in good time and thus saved.

The library building was partially destroyed in 1943, then partially rebuilt and demolished in 1970. Today's state library was built in its place.

Seat 6: New building in 1970

Interior of the state library (2009) with five tablets by Josua Reichert

In the post-war period, attempts were made to close the large gaps that the war had torn, which in some cases succeeded, primarily through generous donations from the Württemberg publishers . Under the aegis of Wilhelm Hoffmann , who headed the state library from 1945 to 1969 and was friends with Theodor Heuss (then Württemberg-Baden Minister of Culture), the government and state parliament managed to obtain sufficient funds for the new beginning. When today's library building (design: Prof. Horst Linde ) was inaugurated on August 3, 1970, after decades of makeshift arrangements, the library holdings had almost reached the size before the destruction. Under Hoffmann's successor, Hans-Peter Geh , who was president of the international library association IFLA from 1985 to 1991 , the holdings were more than doubled; In 1990 they amounted to around 2.5 million volumes.

On January 1, 2000, the staff and holdings of the Library for Contemporary History , which had been located in the WLB building since 1972, and whose holdings were to be used by the WLB, were taken over. Around 350,000 volumes on contemporary history from 1914, in particular on military affairs and conflict research , were transferred to the state library, along with archival special collections including posters and field post letters, as well as the former DFG - special collection area 8.3 Non-conventional materials on contemporary history from the German-speaking area .

To give more room for their stocks and users of the library and not previously possible presentation about half a million books in open shelves instead of in closed library magazines to allow the Baden-Württemberg announced Prime Minister Guenther Oettinger the establishment on 17 June 2008 of an extension for the state library, which was to be opened for the 250th anniversary of the library in 2015. For this purpose, an architectural competition was held in 2010/2011 . In autumn 2012, financial problems in the state of Baden-Württemberg made it questionable whether the new building would be ready for the planned opening date in 2015. Construction work finally began in spring 2015; The extension is scheduled to go into operation in mid-2020. Then the library building from 1970 is to be rebuilt and adapted, which in turn will take several years.

Directors (initially senior librarians)

Important collections

Fol. 26 r from the Sachsenheim prayer book, around 1460, Cod. Brev. 162 (acquired from WLB 1960)
  • Manuscript collection with over 15,000 manuscripts; last in 1993, significantly increased by over 700 manuscripts through the acquisition of the manuscript collection of the Princely Fürstenbergische Hofbibliothek Donaueschingen by the state of Baden-Württemberg
  • Old and valuable prints with u. a. over 7,000 incunabula , a small collection of precious book bindings , rarities from the 16th to 19th centuries and the remains of the former court library
  • Library for contemporary history with around 400,000 volumes as well as archives on contemporary history from 1914 (as of 2000)
  • Bibles collection with more than 20,000 printed Bibles , etc. a. a Gutenberg Bible acquired in 1978 and the only complete copy (one of only three surviving) of the first print of William Tyndale's English translation of the Bible . The Bible collection of the WLB is the most important German and after that of the British Library the most important worldwide.
  • Music collection with numerous music manuscripts and bequests from musicians
  • Collections of maps and graphics with over 155,000 maps and around 30,000 portraits , mainly of people from Baden-Württemberg, around 8,000 views of Württemberg cities and municipalities and around 35,000 postcards
  • Dance and ballet collection with around 2,700 volumes, primarily on the history of dance and ballet
  • Hölderlin archive with manuscripts and first prints by Friedrich Hölderlin ; Editor of the International Hölderlin Bibliography
  • Stefan-George-Archive with u. a. the estate of Stefan George and editions of his works
  • Former library of the Baden-Württemberg State Trade Office

Nazi loot research

Starting in June 2016, the library was the first library in Baden-Württemberg to search specifically for Nazi looted property in its holdings. The project was funded by the German Loss of Cultural Property and the Ministry of Science, Research and Art of the State of Baden-Württemberg. Approx. 60,000 volumes of antiquarian acquisitions from the years 1950 to 1970 were checked for so-called provenance features, i.e. features of previous owners, at the site. The results were recorded in an in-house database; suspicious cases were documented in the GBV's provenance wiki and in the lostart database of the German Loss of Cultural Property Center . The aim is to restore stolen volumes to their rightful heirs. The project ran until June 2019.

architectural art

A number of works of art have been set up or hung outside and inside the State Library, which are presented below. Some of these are particularly noteworthy:

  • the 36 large-format typographic panels by the printer Josua Reichert, which are distributed throughout the house,
  • the large relief "Gutenberg and the printing press" by Adolf von Donndorf, a remnant of the former Royal State Library ,
  • the life-size, stately youthful portrait of the library donor Duke Carl Eugen von Pompeo Batoni and
  • in front of the library the gold-flashing, head-high sculpture by Bernhard Heiliger .

All works of art (except for the two busts) are missing signs with more detailed information about the work of art, even the works listed above are not marked, in particular there is no reference to the artist on the plaques hung up everywhere.

"Duke Carl Eugen" by Pompeo Batoni

"Duke Carl Eugen" by Pompeo Batoni, 1753.

In 1753, the 25-year-old Duke of Württemberg, Carl Eugen, went on a trip to Italy with his first wife Elisabeth Friederike Sophie . In Rome he had himself and his wife portrayed by Pompeo Batoni . “Batoni was the most sought-after painter in Rome in the second half of the 18th century. He worked for popes, emperors, kings and the European nobility. Distinguished travelers, especially from Ireland and England, visited him on their grand tours, toured his studio, sat models for a portrait or ordered allegorical, religious or mythological paintings. "

Carl Eugen donated his portrait to the Ducal Public Library, which he donated in Ludwigsburg in 1765. It is still in the possession of the Württemberg State Library, the successor institution of this library. The portrait shows the young duke at the age of 25 in a classicist interior in ruler's pose and festive regalia. “The insignia of power, the duke hat and scepter, are presented on a velvet cushion that lies on a chair under the bust of Minerva Giustiniani. The bust should be understood less as a souvenir of the Duke's Grand Tour, but as an expression of his wisdom and military power. "

The picture is usually hanging on a wall on the first floor of the library in close proximity to the information desk. Because of the work on the extension of the library, the painting could not be left in its place for reasons of protection and was taken to the Württemberg State Museum in the Old Castle in Stuttgart. It can be viewed there during the construction period of the extension (2016–2018).

"Gutenberg and the printing press" by Adolf von Donndorf

In the basement of the library, where the cafeteria and the exhibition room (“book museum”) are located, a high relief over two meters high is embedded in a wall niche on one of the walls. The relief " Gutenberg and the printing press" is the work of the Stuttgart sculptor Adolf von Donndorf and one of six rectangular sandstone reliefs that he designed from 1885 to 1888 for the Royal State Library .

Two reliefs were placed at a height of about 20 meters on the central risalit , four others on the flanks of the two corner risers of the building. These represented the development of writing and printing (from left to right): an Egyptian scribe chiseling hieroglyphs, a Greek writing a parchment scroll, writing monks in the scriptorium as well as Gutenberg and the printing press. Four round medallions under the reliefs indicated important stages in the library's development through dates (from left to right): 1765 founding of the Ducal Public Library by Duke Carl Eugen , 1777 move to the manor house, 1820 move to the current location in the Invalidenhaus and 1883 construction of the Royal State Library in the same place.

  • Württemberg State Library, 002.jpg
  • Württemberg State Library, 001.jpg
Left: Relief "Gutenberg and the printing press" by Adolf von Donndorf, 1885–1888.
Right: Royal State Library with Donndorf's relief on the top right corner of the building.

The massive, 225 cm high and 146 cm wide high relief in the state library shows a journeyman printer turning the spindle of the printing press while Gutenberg sits in the foreground and examines a finished book.

During the Second World War, the Royal State Library was destroyed down to the surrounding walls in 1944, the remains were torn down in 1970/1971. The Gutenberg relief was recovered, and the Stuttgart Beautification Association saved other works by Donndorf's hand, the two reliefs of the central risalit - allegory of poetry (Orpheus and Pegasus) and science (Heracles and Sphinx) - and two capitals. These components were set up in 1973 in Janusz-Korczak-Weg at the Europaplatz Stuttgart-Fasanenhof underground station . Another work by Adolf von Donndorf in Stuttgart is the Schiller Monument in front of the Great House of the Württemberg State Theater from 1913.

→ Remnants of the old regional library on Europaplatz 

  • Allegory of Poetry (Orpheus and Pegasus) and Science (Heracles and Sphinx).

  • Capital and corner cuboid.

  • Capital and fragment of a blind pillar.

Bust of Theodor Heuss

The bronze bust of Theodor Heuss , the first German Federal President , is the work of the sculptor and painter Wilhelm Hager . Portraits of artists and politicians were one of the artist's main fields of work, "whereby the portrait busts of Thomas Mann (1953 Erlenbach on Lake Zurich), Hermann Hesse (1953 Montagnola, Casa Camuzzi) and Theodor Heuss (1958 Bonn) represent important milestones in Hager's work". The bust is placed on the first floor of the library together with the bust of Wilhelm Hoffmann in the foyer of the directorate, see bust Wilhelm Hoffmann .

Bust of Wilhelm Hoffmann

The bronze bust of Wilhelm Hoffmann , the first director of the Württemberg State Library after the Second World War, was created in 1958 by his wife Elfriede Hoffmann, nee. Müller (1898–1974). The bust is placed on the first floor of the library together with the bust of Theodor Heuss in the foyer of the directorate, see bust of Theodor Heuss .

  • Wilhelm Hoffmann by Elfriede Hoffmann, 1958.

Tapestry by Magdalena Abakanowicz

The tapestry “Fabric 24 in red and black” is the work of the Polish textile artist and sculptor Magdalena Abakanowicz . The carpet is 300 cm high and 413 cm wide and was created in 1963, before the state library was completed in 1970. Since then, it has been hanging in a dark corner of the ground floor, on the wall between the cloakroom and the management foyer.

"Monsum" by Alexander Camaro

The abstract oil painting "Monsum" (height 180 cm, width 160 cm) is the work of the painter and dancer Alexander Camaro . The painting was created in 1965, before the state library was completed in 1970. The picture hangs on the ground floor of the library, in the foyer of the management.

  • "Monsum" by Alexander Camaro, 1965.

“Montana I” by Bernhard Heiliger

If you stroll along the so-called culture mile on Konrad-Adenauer-Straße, you will come across a bronze sculpture in front of the state library, which, with its gilded surface, unfolds a radiant shine in the sun, like a bird with outstretched wings or an open, precious book appears. The sculpture “Montana I” (height: 105 cm, width: 305 cm) is a work created in 1968 by the sculptor Bernhard Heiliger . During the construction period of the library extension (2016–2018), the sculpture is in storage and therefore not accessible.

  • Front.

  • Back.

“Stuttgarter Drucke” by Josua Reichert

Antique palindrome , SB 14.

Anyone who moves inside the library “stumbles” with their eyes at every step over large-format writing boards that are hung on walls and supports all over the house (→ illustration of the interior ). The typographical panels show stylish presentation and artful arrangement of rectangular formats with examples of letters from the classic fonts that define European typography, examples with and without text from Hebrew, Persian, Greek, Latin, English and German and five round pictures, a counter-image to the Examples of letters that, like his teacher HAP Grieshaber, he ascribes to the “Poesia Typographica”. The formats vary between 100 cm and 280 cm in height or width, the round pictures have a diameter of about one meter.

The writing panels were created by the Stuttgart artist Josua Reichert , who modestly calls himself “Josua Reichert - printer”. Josua Reichert has freed typography from its “prison” between the book covers with his “Stuttgart prints”, where only the book reader can perceive it, while the typography boards in the state library are allowed to lead their own life as free works of art. The 36 works, which he also called “script pictures”, were hung up in the library in two installments in 1971 and 1973. Not all of them can be found straight away; some hang in less frequented places, for example in the corridor to the management rooms or in the stairwell to the special reading room.

Josua Reichert reports on the creation of his Stuttgart prints:

“The condition that a work of art must be firmly connected to the building almost brought me to my knees at the first discussion of the work for the Württemberg State Library. I saw glass windows, graffiti, mosaics, floors, frescoes, painted concrete walls. I didn't see any prints on the walls. Then I succeeded in convincing the commission that a large print, if it is glazed and framed, is already firmly attached to the building by its weight alone. With the work on the 'Stuttgarter Drucker', something completely new began for me, which was to determine the two decades that followed. My interest shifted to large-format hand printing. "

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Locations: #Pust 2015 . Name: Württembergische Landesbibliothek, own stamp of ownership .
  2. ^ Württembergische Landesbibliothek in Stuttgart is to receive an extension . Press release No. 172/2008 of the State Ministry of Baden-Württemberg from June 17, 2008 (PDF file; 144 KB; accessed on June 27, 2008)
  3. ^ The extension of the Württemberg State Library: a chronicle. Württemberg State Library, accessed on November 27, 2012 .
  4. ↑ Claudia Leihenseder: No money to expand the state library . In: Stuttgarter Zeitung . October 4, 2012 ( from stuttgarter-zeitung.de [accessed on November 28, 2012]).
  5. ↑ Claudia Leihenseder: Prime Minister wants more space for books . In: Stuttgarter Zeitung . November 13, 2012 ( from stuttgarter-zeitung.de [accessed on November 28, 2012]).
  6. ↑ http://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/die-wlb/wir-ueber-uns/erweiterungsbau/der-erweiterungsbau-der-wuerttembergischen-landesbibliothek-eine-chronik/#c16525
  7. ↑ Dr. Rupert Schaab becomes the new chief library director of the Württemberg State Library. Retrieved May 23, 2019 .
  8. ↑ Provenance Wiki on provenienz.gbv.de
  9. ↑ lostart database on lostart.de
  10. ^ Search for Nazi looted property in the Württemberg State Library. Württemberg State Library, accessed on October 16, 2017 .
  11. ↑ The year of origin is missing on the signs for the two busts.
  12. ↑ #Trost 2008 , page 19.
  13. ↑ #Trost 2008 , page 21.
  14. ↑ #Fuchs 1986 .
  15. ↑ Photos: Beautification Association .
  16. ↑ Quoted from the Wikipedia article Wilhelm Hager .
  17. ↑ #Trost 2010 , page 31.
  18. ↑ #Trost 2010 , page 32.
  19. ↑ # Küster 2006 , #Trost 2010 , pp. 33–34.
  20. ↑ The number SB 14 refers to the catalog raisonné by Josua Reichert ( #Reichert 1997 ).
  21. ↑ #Reichert 1997 .
  22. ↑ #Reichert 1997 , page 18.
  23. ↑ The numbers SB 7 etc. refer to the catalog raisonné by Josua Reichert ( #Reichert 1997 ).

literature

General

  • Karl Löffler: History of the Württemberg State Library , Leipzig: Harrassowitz 1923.
  • Württemberg State Library Stuttgart. Stuttgart 1971 (library guide on the occasion of the new building in 1970)
  • Württemberg State Library Stuttgart. A guide through their history and collections . Stuttgart 1990, ISBN 3-88282-026-8 (library guide for the 225th anniversary)
  • Felix Heinzer: Württemberg State Library . In: David H. Stam (Ed.): International Dictionary of Library Histories . Fitzroy Dearborn, Chicago and London 2001, ISBN 1-57958-244-3 , Vol. 2, pp. 936-938
  • Markus Malo: The catalogs of the Royal Public Library and the Württemberg State Library in Stuttgart. Stuttgart: Württembergische Landesbibliothek, 2002. ISBN 3-88282-058-6 , online .
  • Cornelia Bandow: Manuscripts of the Middle Ages - the large libraries in Baden-Württemberg and their treasures. Staatsanzeiger-Verlag, Stuttgart 2007. ISBN 978-3-929981-69-8 and ISBN 3-929981-69-6
  • Hans-Christian Pust: The buildings of the Württemberg State Library 1765–1965. In: #Trost 2015.1 , pages 102–115.
  • Vera Trost (Ed.): Carl Eugen's legacy: 250 years of the Württemberg State Library; an exhibition of the Württemberg State Library on the occasion of its foundation on February 11, 1765 from February 11, 2015 to April 11, 2015. Stuttgart 2015.
  • Hannsjörg Kowark : 250 years of the Württemberg State Library. In: Circular letter of the Württemberg History and Antiquity Association No. 19 (April 2015), pp.1-4 .

architectural art

  • M. Benzler: The Stuttgart prints by Josua Reichert. Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt 1972. - With some work images in black and white or color and black and white interior photos with the Stuttgart prints.
  • Ulrike Fuchs: The sculptor Adolf Donndorf. Life and work. Stuttgart 1986, page 133, illustrations: 36, 101, 134. - Gutenberg relief by Adolf von Donndorf.
  • Bärbel Küster (editor); Wolfram Janzer (photos): Sculptures of the 20th Century in Stuttgart , Heidelberg 2006, pages 124–127. - “Montana I” by Bernhard Heiliger.
  • Joshua Reichert; Waltraud Pfäfflin (editor); Klaus Maurice (editor): Josua Reichert, catalog raisonné 1959–1995: with comments by the artist on his groups of works. Ostfildern-Ruit 1997, pages 150–155, number SB 1-SB 34. - With color images of all prints from Stuttgart.
  • Vera Trost: The Batoni painting by Duke Carl Eugen von Württemberg. In: WLB forum , Volume 9, 2008, Issue 1, Pages 19–23, online .
  • Vera Trost: "Art in Architecture" in the Württemberg State Library. In: WLB forum , volume 12, 2010, issue 1, pages 30–37, online .
  • Vera Trost: Duke Carl Eugen in the portrait of Pompeo Batoni. In: #Trost 2015.1 , pages 26–31.
  • Vera Trost: Art in Architecture. Bernhard Heiliger's “Montana I” and Josua Reicht's Stuttgart prints. In: #Trost 2015.1 , pages 116-123.

Web links

Commons : Württembergische Landesbibliothek  - Collection of images, videos and audio files