Visiting the Library
Whether you want to work in the reading room, need personal advice in the literature search, visit our exhibition, or hold a seminar using our special collections – we look forward to your visit to the Bamberg State Library!
Opening Hours
| Monday to Friday | 9:00 to 17:00 |
| Saturday | 9:00 to 12:00 |
The library is closed on Saturdays in August and on public holidays as well as on Shrove Tuesday from 12:00, Holy Saturday, 24th December (Christmas Eve) and 31st December (New Year's Eve).
Find your way to us.
Orientation
Accessibility
Close to the library, the following special parking spaces are reserved for people with disabilities: Domplatz 1/2 (opposite the Diocesan Museum Bamberg) and Domstraße at the back of the cathedral (limited to 3 hours). The entrance to the library can be accessed via a ramp with wheelchair, walker, or stroller. However, both the cobblestones in the Domplatz and parts of the steep ramp may cause problems. We are happy to be of assistance; please call us if necessary at + 49 951 95503-106. All public rooms are accessible.
Lockers
Although you may bring books, laptops, or writing materials into the reading room, please store jackets, backpacks, laptop bags, drinks, etc. in one of the lockers in the entrance hall before your visit. You will need a 2 Euro coin for the deposit.
Restrooms
The restrooms in the library are not accessible. The nearest accessible toilet is located in the immediate vicinity in the entrance to the State Gallery and the State Rooms in the New Residence.
Reading Room
There are 24 workplaces and a reference library with around 10,000 volumes (including 2,000 publications on Bamberg), current periodicals, newly acquired literature, three computers with Internet access, free WiFi, a microform scanner and a book scanner.
Here you will also receive all the materials you have ordered for borrowing. We can issue library cards, assist you in your research, and advise you individually on any questions regarding the use of the library.
Exhibition Room
In the Sternengewölbe and in the Scagliolasaal we regularly show exhibitions. The exhibition rooms are accessible.
Seminar Room
The seminar room on the second floor is unfortunately not accessible. There is an elevator for a maximum of four people.
Rose Garden
The rose garden, with the local café near the New Residence, is open during the summer.
Consultation
Do you need expert advice in finding research materials? Would you like help with catalogue and database research? Do you have a question about the services offered by the Bamberg State Library?
We can help you individually or in small groups. Come to us with your request during our opening hours, call us at +49 951 95503-101 or send us an email.
Subject Groups
| A | Encyclopaedias | |||
| B | Biographies | |||
| C | Philosophy | |||
| D | Theology | |||
| E | Language and literature | |||
| F | Art, music and theatre | |||
| G | Law, government, society, economic | |||
| K | History and cultural studies | |||
| L | Geography | |||
| M | Bavaria, Franconia, Bamberg | |||
| N | Library | |||
In the Reading Room
The historic rooms of the reading room were used by the Bamberg prince-bishops in the 18th century as an audience chamber during the summer and later as the court chapel. Even today, our reading room offers a quiet atmosphere for concentrated reading, working, and studying with a view of the idyllic rose garden. 24 workstations, three library computers, and a book scanner are available.
You have immediate access to an open-access library with around 10,000 volumes (general reference works, basic literature), which are systematically organized according to subject groups and which you can consult without further formalities. A special feature of this is the collection of about 2,000 publications of the specialist group M (Bavaria, Franconia, Bamberg), which holds relevant works with a regional focus. The works exhibited in the reading room are listed in a repertory and of course also listed in the Bamberg Catalogue.
The reading room also contains the latest issues of selected journals, as well as a weekly selection of newly acquired literature.
Internet Access
Three library computers with internet access and options to connect laptops to WiFi are available in the reading room. The reading room supervisor is available to give technical support if you have any questions.
This is how to connect to the Internet with our computers or with your own laptop, smartphone or other devices:
Library Computers
At the library computers, you can conduct literature research online as well as use the library's online services. Registered library users can log on with their library number, students and other members of the University of Bamberg with their BA number.
eduroam
Students and other members of the University of Bamberg as well as visiting members of other universities or research institutions can use eduroam WIFI to access the Internet. Members of the University of Bamberg use their BA number. Visitors use the access data of their home institution. The IT-Service of the University of Bamberg provides detailed information about VPN.
Research Stay
If you are planning a one-off working stay with us and therefore do not need to be issued with a library card, or if we cannot issue you with a library card because you do not have a fixed place of residence in Germany, you can still work with our holdings in the reading room. In certain cases, our seminar room is also available for your research stay upon prior request.
Procedures
A visit for research requires a written registration. Please send us a request by email at least one week before your arrival.
Ideally, you will have researched the literature yourself from home in the Bamberg Catalogue or our manuscript catalogues and have told us of the needed bibliographic information and their signatures in advance. If certain titles that you need cannot be determined through our online catalogues, we will be happy to research based on your information.
Please note: The ordered media can only be used in the reading room. A loan to take these materials out of the library is not possible.
If you would like to use manuscripts, incunabula, old prints or fine art prints and drawings in the course of your stay, we also need proof of scholarly interest in addition to the written registration. The inspection of such items from our special collection requires the approval of the directorate. Before their usage, we will discuss the purpose and background of your use request with you.
When you arrive at the Bamberg State Library, please contact the reading room supervisor directly.
Agreement
The use of the Bamberg State Library is governed by the Allgemeine Benützungsordnung (ABOB) of the Bavarian State Libraries in the version of 18th August 1993 (GVBI p. 635).
Furthermore, the usage guidelines for information processing systems of the Otto Friedrich University of Bamberg apply.