The National Academic Library (; abbreviated BNU) is a

public library A public library is a library, most often a lending library, that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil servic ...

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

, France. It is located on

Place de la République The Place de la République (; English: Republic Square; known until 1879 as the Place du Château d'Eau, ) is a square in Paris, located on the border between the 3rd, 10th and 11th arrondissements. The square has an area of .Warner, p. 250 ...

, the former ''Kaiserplatz'', and faces the '' Palais du Rhin''.

History

After the destruction of the municipal library and the city's archives by Prussian artillery during the Siege of Strasbourg, the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

founded the BNU on 19 June 1872. The task of arranging its collections was given to historian and professor, Rodolphe Reuss. It became the regional library for the ''Reichsland'' Alsace-Lorraine, as, according to German tradition, every region should have at least one library. It was also an

Academic library An academic library is a library that is attached to a higher education institution, which supports the curriculum and the research of the university faculty and students. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, there are an es ...

. The collections grew quickly, thanks principally to donations from all across Europe and the United States. But, even in spite of these generous donations, many priceless manuscripts, such as the Hortus Deliciarum had been destroyed and could never be replaced. The present-day building, which is a work of architects August Hartel and Skjold Neckelmann, was opened in 1895. After the territory of Alsace-Lorraine had been reverted to France following

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the question arose as to whether or not this library should be renovated and reopened. After some hesitation, the French government decided to keep the library. The library now holds about 3,000,000 volumes, which is the second largest collection in France. The collection contains, amongst other things, ca. 2,300

incunabula An incunable or incunabulum (: incunables or incunabula, respectively) is a book, pamphlet, or broadside (printing), broadside that was printed in the earliest stages of printing in Europe, up to the year 1500. The specific date is essentiall ...

, 6,700

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has ...

s (plus 29,000 others from the archives – kept by the library – of the De Turckheim family, and several other thousands from the Alsatian

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

order) and 5,200

papyri Papyrus ( ) is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, ''Cyperus papyrus'', a wetland sedge. ''Papyrus'' (plural: ''papyri'' or ''papyruses'') can ...

.Collections papyrologiques at the BNU website

References

External links

Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:NATIONAL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Library buildings completed in 1895 Libraries in Grand Est University of Strasbourg Organizations based in Strasbourg Tourist attractions in Strasbourg Monuments historiques of Strasbourg 1895 establishments in France Libraries established in 1872 19th-century architecture in France