History

The Bamberg State Library was founded in 1803 as a result of the mass secularisation of religious institutions in Germany and was initially housed in the Jesuit college in the city centre of Bamberg until it moved to the New Residence on the Domberg in 1966. Our mission is determined by our growing collections and intensive efforts to make our holdings accessible.

Origin
Growth and Expansion
In the New Residence
Literature

Heinrich Joachim Jaeck (1777–1847), Head Librarian 1803–1847 (with Konrad Frey until 1813, with Alexander Schmötzer until 1815) | SBB, Gem.11

Michael Stenglein (1810–1879), Head Librarian 1848–1874 | SBB, V Ad 164

Friedrich Leitschuh (1837–1898), Head Librarian 1874–1898 | SBB, Gem.17

Hans Fischer (1859–1941), Head Librarian 1898–1924 | SBB, V Bu 19

Max Müller (1880–1953), Head Librarian 1924–1945 | SBB

Curt Höfner (1899–1980), Head Librarian 1946–1952 | SBB, Gem.62

Fridolin Dreßler (1921–2013), Head Librarian 1958–1967 | SBB, Msc.Add.92(9

Wilhelm Schleicher (1925–1985), Head Librarian 1967–1984 | SBB

Bernhard Schemmel (1940–), Head Librarian 1984–2005 | SBB, V BuG

Werner Taegert (1950–), Head Librarian 2006–2016 | SBB

Bettina Wagner (1964–), Head Librarian since 2016 | SBB

Origin

The name of this library has changed with the political situation in Bavaria: first, it was called Kurfürstliche Bibliothek (Electoral Library), then Königliche Bibliothek (Royal Library) from 1806 to 1918, Staatliche Bibliothek (State Library) from 1918 to 1966, then finally its current name, Staatsbibliothek Bamberg, from 1966 to the present.

Six notable manuscripts from secularised ecclesiastical institutions have not remained in Bamberg, but instead became part of the collection of the Bavarian State Library.

The first director of the library, Heinrich Joachim Jaeck (1777–1847), a former monk from the Cistercian Monastery at Langheim, organized approximately 60,000 volumes from the Bamberg area into a usable collection. He created and developed a systematic organization system and arrangement for the manuscripts and prints that are still partially valid even today. He also published catalogues and numerous scholarly articles on the library’s collections.

Growth and Expansion

Since the library initially had no acquisition budget, the revenue from sales of facsimiles and duplicates was needed to expand the holdings. In the 19th century, the collection of the State Library was enriched by a considerable number of donations. Thus, the holdings expanded to include a substantial part of the court library of the Duke of Wittelsbach, Charles II Augustus of Pfalz-Zweibrücken (1746–1795), the eldest brother of the first Bavarian King, Max I Joseph. The Latin version of the library’s name is Bipontina.

Collections of numerous citizens closely associated with Bamberg, such as the collector and art historian Joseph Heller (1798–1849), the medical professor Johann Lukas Schönlein (1793–1864), the captain of the Royal Navy Thomas Dempster Gordon (1811–1894), and the baron Emil Marschalk von Ostheim (1841–1903), also became integrated into the library.

The years 1874 to 1924 marked a period of consolidation. The head of the library, Friedrich Leitschuh, who was director from 1874–1898, began publishing a manuscript catalogue, which was completed by his collaborator and successor, Hans Fischer, director of the library from 1898–1924, in a form that is still considered exemplary today. In 1966 Fridolin Dressler edited a supplement comprising new acquisitions since 1912.

A stagnation in acquisitions in between the two World Wars caused by a lack of staff and funds ended in 1948 when the state of Bavaria decided to take over all the libraries within the state. Under the library directors Curt Höfner (director 1946–1952) and Alois Fauser (director 1953–1958), the library was revived, as the number of established posts for librarians and assistants increased.

The State Library's reading room in the former Jesuit College, ca. 1950. Today, the building is occupied by the University of Bamberg's branch library for theology and philosophy (An der Universität 2) | SBB, V Bu

The reading room is used for an exhibition in 1959 | SBB, V Bu

This ceased to be possible in 1962 due to the increasing lack of space and the resulting preparations for the move into the New Residence | SBB, V Buc

Reconstruction plans in preparation for the move into the New Residence, December 1961 | SBB, Akten D 11

Before it became the State Library's reading room, this hall in the New Residence was used for exhibitions of the Bavarian State Painting Collections | SBB, V BuG

Extensive excavation works on the Domplatz for the planned oil and water tanks | SBB, V Buc

Detailed model for the reading room, autumn of 1963 | SBB, V Buc

The former garden hall, which is today's reading room, as material storage | SBB, V Buc

Press reactions to the move into the New Residence and the opening event on 9th July 1965 | SBB, V Bub

Photographs showing the new library rooms, found in a private album | SBB, V Bud

Library director Dr Fridolin Dreßler shows the exhibition rooms to the Bamberg city councillors in 1966 | SBB, Msc.Add.92(9

A relic of times past - with a well-staffed in-house cleaning service | SBB, V Bub

The New Residence as seen on Bamberg Cathedral square in the late 1960s | V BuG

Notice detailing the State Library's opening hours, valid until 1973 | SBB, Msc.Misc.177f(11

The Scagliola Hall in 1974 with the old showcases, brightly lit by daylight | SBB, V BuG

New acquisitions published in 1976 or later were documented in an offline electronic catalogue as part of the cataloguing cooperation with the library of the Gesamthochschule Bamberg (Bamberg University's precurser). This marked the birth of the microfiche precurser to the "Bamberger Katalog." The card catalogues shown here gradually ceased to be used | SBB

The entrance next to the reading room in 1976 | SBB, V BuG

Until 1997, the circulation desk and supervisor were directly located in the reading room | SBB, V BuG

On 9 December 1976, the redevelopment of the former wine cellar into a stack-room is approved. The construction works were finished as early as 20th December 1978 | SBB, V BuG

The State Library loaned numerous books and journals to the Bamberg University library's precurser. After almost fourty years, they return to their original place one by one | SBB

The book donations of the Bamberg art historian Johann Joseph Morper (1899–1980) before they were sorted | SBB, V Buf

Photograph showing the Bamberg Cathedral square in the 1970s. In 1986, the entire square is declared a no-parking zone; busses had been forbidden to park there since 1980 | SBB, V BuG

In 1981, the Photocopying Service's revenue had noticably increased | SBB, Msc.Misc.177f(11

The decisive factor: new ektachromes of the Bamberg Apocalypse. The most famous of Bamberg's manuscripts was digitised in 2012 and can be freely accessed online since then | SBB

Since 1987, the State Library is responsible for the legal deposits of Upper Franconia. Every publisher in Bavaria is obliged by the law to submit two copies of their publication to the Bavarian State Library in Munich free of charge in order for them to be documented and archived | SBB

In February 1991, a delivery service between Bamberg and Chemnitz was established, connecting the Bavarian interlibrary loan with the new federal states for the first time. The State Library became a hub for interlibrary loans. Until 1993, the State Library was also responsible for the University library's interlibrary loans | SBB, V BuG

Storaged hardware meant for the participation in the Bavarian data processing system SOKRATES (used for OPAC research, circulation, telecommunication, acquisition and cataloguing of publications). From 1992 on, The State Library used the system to catalogue its collections online | SBB, V BuG

This "library mouse" was slightly overeager to eat the card catalogue in 1992, when it was still in use. Works published before 1925 are still in the process of being entered into the online catalogue; however, to this day the card catalogue remains the only complete documentation of the older collections | SBB, V Bug

In 1992, the State Library enters into a new contract with the Historical Society of Bamberg regarding the storage of the latter’s graphical prints (kept since 1967) and manuscrips (kept since 1970) in the library. The Society’s library (printed works) had already been kept in the State Library since 1963 | SBB, HV.Rar.100, fol. 1v

Starting in 1994, Bamberg newspapers since 1754 were microfilmed with fundings by the DFG (German Research Foundation). The newspaper archive that emerged from the project is still used daily today | SBB

In 1995, the State Library came into the possession of the estate of Alexej Borutscheff (1911–1994), a Russian architect and painter who had lived in Bamberg | SBB

Miniatures from medieval manuscripts served as templates for promotionary material in front of the library's entrance due to a major exhibition on the art of writing from November 1995 to January 1996 | SBB

Exhibition of friendship albums called "Edler Schatz holden Erinnerns", held from 20th May to 4th November 1995 in the Sterngewölbe and the Scagliolasaal | SBB

On 14th May 1997, the State Library's homepage went online. The local newspaper "Fränkischer Tag" acknowledged this event with a detailed article | SBB

In 1998, the library's photographer Alfons Steber retired after decades of skillful work | SBB, V Bud

On 14th June 1999, the State Library joined the University library's electronic circulation booking system. This enabled users for the first time to order their books online from a computer of their choice. From then on, it was no longer necessary to personally fill out a library ticket in the library itself | SBB

On 28th December 2000, the State Library was gifted the extensive scholarly library of the historian Prof. Dr Otto Meyer (1906–2000) | SBB

Poster for the exhibition "Das Buch mit 7 Siegeln" (the book of seven seals). The event was held following the Facsimile reproduction of the Bamberg Apocalypse. For the first time, it was possible to show every single leaf of this luxurious manuscript. Around 20,000 visitors saw the exhibition until 31th January 2001 | SBB

The new showcases were installed into the star vault in October 2000 | SBB

The reconstructed medieval farmstead on the Cathedral square largely burned down just before the 2002 Bavarian state exhibition "Kaiser Heinrich II." (Emperor Henry II). The ruin was left standing as a memorial during the exhibition, and many visitors marvelled at this "staged" realistic display | SBB

Reading room exhibition on medieval book manufacture on occasion of the 2002 Night of Museums on 12th October | SBB

The archival storage chests of the prince-bishop's administration returned to the New Residence in 2003, the anniversary year of secularisation. Seen in the background, a plan from the Bamberg State Archive illustrates the chests' original arrangement | SBB

[Translate to English:] 2003 wird ein Teil der ehemaligen Hausmeisterwohnung im zweiten Obergeschoss zu einem multifunktionalen Seminarraum umgebaut. Die bisherige Residenzpflicht des Hausmeisters wird damit endgültig aufgehoben | SBB

In 2003, two of the State Library's treasure manuscripts from Reichenau Abbey were added to the UNESCO Memory of the World Register: the Bamberg Apocalypse, and the Commentary on the Song of Songs and Daniel. On this occasion, they were presented in an exhibition at the end of 2004, drawing in about 4,000 impressed visitors | SBB

Since January 2004, 16th and 17th century stained glass pictures make for another sight in the entrance hall. They can be traced back to the art collector and scholar Joseph Heller and were installed into the windows of the former library hall in the Jesuit college by the library's patron of the art Emil Freiherr Marschalk von Ostheim in 1888 | SBB

Bans and regulations in the course of time | SBB

Heinrichs-Malerwerkstatt (Henry's painting workshop) in the Karstadt store in Bamberg. In cooperation with the Haus der Bayerischen Geschichte, pupils were given guided tours on the topic of medieval book manufacture for one week in June 2005 | SBB

The last of the University library's collections, stored there since 1979, move out of the State Library's compact shelving; the space is urgently needed by the growing collections of the latter institution | SBB

During the 2006 Long Night of the Libraries on 21st October, actors of the E.T.A.-Hoffmann Theatre performed "Faust" in the reading room | SBB

Installation of the Graz book table in July 2007, the starting point for the digitisation of the Kaiser-Heinrich-Bibliothek (Emperor Henry library). It was finished in 2012 | SBB

In 2009, scenes of the short film "Die Unbedingten" were filmed in the State Library's show rooms | SBB

In 2010, the State Library received 226 rare printed works connected to E. T. A. Hoffmann as well as 1108 handwritten letters of Jean Paul as a permanent loan from the Oberfrankenstiftung (Upper Franconia Foundation) | SBB

The professional cleaning of manuscripts, incunables and old prints, the follow-up documentation of the existing damages, and restoration will take up many years | SBB

Certificate adding the Lorscher Arzneibuch (Lorsch book of medicines) to the UNESCO Memory of the World. It is the State Library's third manuscript on the register | SBB

In the New Residence

In 1965, the library moved to the New Residence on the Domberg due to lack of space in the Jesuit College. Under Fridolin Dressler (director 1958–1967), a fundamental reorganization and modernization of the State Library took place. Dressler also chose E. T. A. Hoffmann as an area of special importance, thus laying the foundation for one of the largest collections of Hoffmanniana in the world, which was continually expanded under his successors.

Since 1986, the collection of illuminated mediaeval manuscripts has been catalogued in a project initiated by Bernhard Schemmel (director 1984–2005) and funded by the DFG, in order to make the holdings accessible for research through catalogues. As one of the first state-owned libraries in Bavaria, the Bamberg State Library has begun the systematic digitization and online presentation of its historical holdings.

In addition to its own holdings, the State Library also houses and manages the book collections of a number of Bamberg associations as deposits, such as those of the Bamberg Historical Society, the Bamberg Society of Naturalists, the E.T.A. Hoffmann Society and the Bamberg group of the Frankenbund.

Literature

Jaeck, Heinrich Joachim: Vollständige Beschreibung der öffentlichen Bibliothek zu Bamberg. Bamberg, 1831–1835 (catalogue).

Leitschuh, Friedrich: Führer durch die Königliche Bibliothek zu Bamberg. 2. ed. Bamberg, 1889 (catalogue).

Fauser, Alois; Gerstner, Hermann: Aere perennius. Jubiläums-Ausstellung der Staatlichen Bibliothek Bamberg zur Feier ihres 150jährigen Bestehens. Bamberg, 1953 (catalogue).

Schemmel, Bernhard: Staatsbibliothek Bamberg. Handschriften, Buchdruck um 1500 in Bamberg, E. T. A. Hoffmann. Bamberg, 1990 (digitized version).

Handbuch der historischen Buchbestände in Deutschland. Vol. 11 (1997), pp. 127–140 (online).

Schemmel, Bernhard: Bamberg – ein Modell? Die Staatsbibliothek im Gefüge des Bamberger Bibliothekssystems. In: Bibliotheksforum Bayern 27 (1999), pp. 163–179 (catalogue).

Die Staatsbibliothek Bamberg 2005–2015. Bamberg, 2016 (digitized version).