(1908). The catalogue of MSS. are mostly in print, vols. 1-13, 16–23 (1853–1905). The library is specially rich in oriental MSS., chiefly due to purchases of private collections. The musical MSS. are very remarkable and form the richest collection in the world as regards autographs. The building, erected about 1780 by Frederick the Great, has long been too small, and a new one was completed in 1909. The building occupies the whole space between the four streets: Unter den Linden, Dorotheenstrasse, Universitätsstrasse and Charlottenstrasse, and besides the Royal Library, houses the University Library and the Academy of Sciences. The conditions as to the use of the collections are, as in most German libraries, very liberal. Any adult person is allowed to have books in the reading-room. Books are lent out to all higher officials, including those holding educational offices in the university, &c., and by guarantee to almost any one recommended by persons of standing; borrowing under pecuniary security is also permitted. By special leave of the librarian, books and MSS. may be sent to a scholar at a distance, or, if especially valuable, may be deposited in some public library where he can conveniently use them. In 1908–1909 264,000 vols. were used in the reading-rooms, 312,000 were lent inside Berlin, and 32,000 outside. There is a regular system of exchange between the Royal Library and a great number of Prussian libraries. It is the same in Bavaria, Württemberg and Baden; the oldest system is that between Darmstadt and Giessen (dating from 1837). There is either no charge for carriage to the borrower or the cost is very small. The reading-room and magazine hall are, with the exception of Sundays and holidays, open daily from 9 to 9, the borrowing counter from 9 to 6.
Associated with the Royal Library are the following undertakings: the Gesamtkatalog der Preussischen wissenschaftlichen Bibliotheken (describing the printed books in the Royal Library and the Prussian University Libraries in one general catalogue upon slips), the Auskunftsbureau der Deutschen Bibliotheken (bureau to give information where any particular book may be consulted), and the Kommission für den Gesamtkatalog der Wiegendrucke (to draw up a complete catalogue of books printed before 1500).
The University Library (1831) numbers 220,000 vols. together with 250,000 academical and school dissertations. The number of volumes lent out in 1908–1909 was 104,000. The library possesses the right to receive a copy of every work published in the province of Brandenburg.
Some of the governmental libraries are important, especially those of the Statistisches Landesamt (184,000 vols.); Reichstag (181,000 vols.); Patent-Amt (118,000 vols.); Haus der Abgeordneten (100,000 vols.); Auswärtiges-Amt (118,000 vols.).
The public library of Berlin contains 102,000 vols.; connected therewith 28 municipal Volksbibliotheken and 14 municipal reading-rooms. The 28 Volksbibliotheken contain (1908) 194,000 vols.
The Prussian university libraries outside Berlin include Bonn (332,000 printed vols., 1500 MSS.); Breslau (330,000 printed vols., 3700 MSS.); Göttingen, from its foundation in 1736/7 the best administered library of the 18th century (552,000 printed vols., 6800 MSS.); Greifswald (200,000 printed vols., 800 MSS.); Halle (261,000 printed vols., 2000 MSS.); Kiel (278,000 printed vols., 2400 MSS.); Königsberg (287,000 printed vols., 1500 MSS.); Marburg (231,000 printed vols. and about 800 MSS.); Münster (191,000 printed vols., 800 MSS.). Under provincial administration are the Königliche and Provinzialbibliothek at Hanover (203,000 printed vols., 4000 MSS.); the Landesbibliothek at Cassel (230,000 printed vols., 4400 MSS.); and the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Bibliothek at Posen (163,000 printed vols.). A number of the larger towns possess excellent municipal libraries; Aix-la-Chapelle (112,000 vols.); Breslau (164,000 vols., 4000 MSS.); Dantzig (145,600 vols., 2900 MSS.); Frankfort a/M (342,000 vols. besides MSS.); Cassel Murhardsche Bibliothek (141,000 vols., 6300 MSS.); Cologne (235,000 vols.); Treves (100,000 vols., 2260 MSS.); Wiesbaden (158,000 vols.).
The libraries of Munich, though not so numerous as those of Berlin, include two of great importance. The Royal Library, for a long time the largest collection of books in Germany, was founded by Duke Albrecht V. of Bavaria (1550–1579), who made numerous purchases from Italy, and incorporated the libraries of the Munich. Nuremberg physician and historian Schedel, of Widmannstadt, and of J. J. Fugger. The number of printed vols. is estimated at about 1,100,000 and about 50,000 MSS. The library is especially rich in incunabula, many of them being derived from the libraries of over 150 monasteries closed in 1803. The oriental MSS. are numerous and valuable, and include the library of Martin Haug. The amount annually spent upon books and binding is £5000. The catalogues of the printed books are in manuscript, and include (1) a general alphabetical catalogue, (2) an alphabetical repertorium of each of the 195 subdivisions of the library, (3) biographical and other subject catalogues. A printed catalogue of MSS. in 8 vols. was in 1910 nearly complete; the first was published in 1858. The library is open on weekdays from 8 to 1 (November to March 8.30 to 1), and on Monday to Friday (except from August 1 to September 15) also from 3 to 8. The regulations for the use of the library are very similar to those of the Royal Library at Berlin. The building was erected for this collection under King Louis I. in 1832–1843. The archives are bestowed on the ground floor, and the two upper floors are devoted to the library, which occupies seventy-seven apartments. The University Library was originally founded at Ingolstadt in 1472, and removed with the university to Munich in 1826. At present the number of vols. amounts to 550,000; the MSS. number 2000. Forty-six Munich libraries are described in Schwenke’s Adressbuch, 15 of which possessed in 1909 about 2,000,000 printed vols. and about 60,000 MSS. After the two mentioned above the most noteworthy is the Königlich Bayrische Armee-Bibliothek (100,000 printed vols., 1000 MSS.).
The chief Bavarian libraries outside Munich are the Royal Library at Bamberg (350,000 vols., 4300 MSS.) and the University Library at Würzburg (390,000 vols., 1500 MSS.); both include rich monastic libraries. The University Library at Erlangen has 237,000 vols. The Staats-Kreis and Stadtbibliothek at Augsburg owns 200,000 vols., and 2000 MSS.; Nuremberg has two great collections, the Bibliothek des Germanischen National-museums (250,000 vols., 3550 MSS.) and the Stadtbibliothek (104,000 vols., 2500 MSS.).
In 1906 there were in Dresden 78 public libraries with about 1,495,000 vols. The Royal Public Library in the Japanese Palace was founded in the 16th century. Among its numerous acquisitions have been the library of Count Bünau in 1764, and the MSS. of Ebert. Special attention is devoted to history Dresden. and literature. The library possesses more than 520,000 vols. (1909); the MSS. number 6000. Admission to the reading-room is granted to any respectable adult on giving his name, and books are lent out to persons qualified by their position or by a suitable guarantee. Here, as at other large libraries in Germany, works of belles-lettres are only supplied for a literary purpose. The number of persons using the reading-room in a year is about 14,000, and about 23,000 vols. are lent. The second largest library in Dresden, the Bibliothek des Statistischen Landes-Amtes, has 120,000 vols.
Leipzig is well equipped with libraries; that of the University has 550,000 vols. and 6500 MSS. The Bibliothek des Reichsgerichts has 151,000 vols., the Pädagogische Central-Bibliothek der Comenius-Stiftung 150,000 vols., and the Stadtbibliothek 125,000 vols., with 1500 MSS.
The Royal Public Library of Stuttgart, although only established in 1765, has grown so rapidly that it now possesses about 374,000 vols. of printed works and 5300 MSS. There is a famous collection of Bibles, containing over 7200 vols. The annual expenditure devoted to books and binding is £2475. The Stuttgart. library also enjoys the copy-privilege in Württemberg. The annual number of borrowers is over 2600, who use nearly 29,000 vols. The number issued in the reading-room is 41,000. The number of parcels despatched from Stuttgart is nearly 23,000. Admission is also gladly granted to the Royal Private Library, founded in 1810, which contains about 137,000 vols.
Of the other libraries of Württemberg the University Library of Tübingen (500,000 vols. and 4100 MSS.) need only be noted.
The Grand-ducal Library of Darmstadt was established by the grand-duke Louis I. in 1819, on the basis of the still older library formed in the 17th century, and includes 510,000 vols. and about 3600 MSS. (1909). The number of vols. used in the course of the year is Darmstadt. about 90,000, of which 14,000 are lent out.
Among the other libraries of the Grand Duchy of Hesse the most remarkable are the University Library at Giessen (230,000 vols., 1500 MSS.), and the Stadtbibliothek at Mainz (220,000 vols., 1200 MSS.) to which is attached the Gutenberg Museum.
In the Grand Duchy of Baden are the Hof- und Landesbibliothek at Carlsruhe (202,000 vols., 3800 MSS.), the University Library at Freiburg i/B (300,000 vols., 700 MSS.), and the University Library at Heidelberg. This, the oldest of the German University libraries, was founded in 1386. In 1623 the whole collection, described by Joseph Scaliger in 1608 as “locupletior et meliorum librorum quam Vaticana,” was carried as a gift to the pope and only the German MSS. were afterwards returned. The library was re-established in 1703, and after 1800 enriched with monastic spoils; it now contains about 400,000 vols. and 3500 MSS. for the most part of great value.
Among the State or University libraries of other German states should be mentioned Detmold (110,000 vols.); Jena (264,000 vols.); Neustrelitz (130,000 vols.); Oldenburg (126,000 vols.); Rostock (275,000 vols.); Schwerin (225,000 vols.); and Weimar (270,000), all possessing rich collections of MSS.
The Ducal Library of Gotha was established by Duke Ernest the Pious in the 17th century, and contains many valuable books and MSS. from monastic collections. It numbers about 192,000 vols., with 7400 MSS. The catalogue of the oriental MSS., chiefly collected Gotha. by Seetzen, and forming one-half of the collection, is one of the best in existence.
The Ducal Library at Wolfenbüttel, founded in the second half of the 16th century by Duke Julius, was made over to the university of Helmstedt in 1614, whence the most important treasures were returned to Wolfenbüttel in the 19th century; it now numbers 300,000 vols., 7400 MSS.
The chief libraries of the Hanse towns are: Bremen (Stadtbibliothek, 141,000 vols.), and Lübeck (Stadtbibliothek, 121,000 vols.); the most important being the Stadtbibliothek at Hamburg, made public since 1648 (383,000 vols., 7300 MSS., among them many Mexican). Hamburg has also in the Kommerzbibliothek (120,000 vols.) a valuable trade collection, and the largest Volksbibliothek
