Literature about the Library

Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek

Current publication on the library

Series “Im Fokus”

This volume tells the story of the archive and research library from its beginnings in the 16th century to the present day and takes readers on a tour of its collection and knowledge rooms: in the historic library building, the route leads from the Renaissance Hall with the exhibition “Cranach's Torrent of Images” to the Rococo Hall from 1766 and on to the Book Tower. Via the underground stacks you reach the Study Centre with the central Book Cube, which opened in 2005. Thematic contributions present the diverse collections: They focus on manuscripts from the time before printing as well as the pamphlets of the Reformation period, the world's largest Faust collection and the so-called ash books, which have been undergoing restoration since the fire in 2004.

Further information on the literature used in the articles.

Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek. Herausgegeben von Reinhard Laube. Berlin : Deutscher Kunstverlag, 2022.

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Library catalogue

Thomas Kaufmann: News from “Junker Jörg”

Lukas Cranach's early Reformation prints. Observations, enquiries, theses and corrections

Series “Konstellationen”

The Göttingen Reformation historian Thomas Kaufmann analyses the early Reformation prints of Lukas Cranach the Elder from the perspective of his collaboration with Luther and the Wittenberg circle. In doing so, he arrives at some new interpretations of certain serial works such as the “Passional Christi und Antichristi” and the illustrations for the first edition of the New Testament in Luther's translation (the so-called September Testament). With regard to the well-known woodcut of the bearded Luther (“Junker Jörg”), Kaufmann breaks with the previous dating of 1521/1522 and shows that it is a document of militant anti-papalism from 1537 on the one hand, and a monument of memoria on the other.

Thomas Kaufmann: Neues von „Junker Jörg“. Lukas Cranachs frühreformatorische Druckgraphik. Beobachtungen, Anfragen, Thesen und Korrekturen. Weimar : Klassik Stiftung Weimar, [2020].

Library catalogue

Printed copy available in the BoD book shop. Available online on the Publication server.

Michael Knoche: The Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek. A Portrait

This richly illustrated, informative and handy volume provides an overview of the beginnings, construction, furnishings and holdings of the library, which today sees itself as a research library for literary and cultural history with a focus on German literature from around 1800. Despite the losses caused by the fire in 2004, the Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek is a treasure trove of a special kind. The historic library building with the Rococo Hall as the centrepiece of the unique ensemble attracts around 90,000 visitors every year.

Michael Knoche: Die Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek. Ein Portrait. Berlin : Otto Meissner, 2016 (zweite, erweiterte und überarbeitete Auflage).

Library catalogue

Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek. Cultural history of a collection

In the 1760s, Duchess Anna Amalia had the former Green Palace, a Renaissance building that had last served as an armoury, converted for library purposes. In five years, a show library was created not far from the city palace and princely residence, which was repeatedly described with enthusiasm as a rococo church of books, in which scholars were shown the sublimity of an encyclopaedic ideal. Originating from a princely book collection, the library became an important place for the educated middle classes during the period in which Goethe was entrusted with its supervision, while its holdings continued to grow.

The book, illustrated with a series of photographs by American artist Laura Padgett, is the first to describe the history of the 'Weimar Book Treasure', which numbers almost one million, from its beginnings in the 16th century to the present day in the context of Weimar's cultural history.

Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek. Kulturgeschichte einer Sammlung. Herausgegeben von Michael Knoche. Weimar : Klassik Stiftung Weimar, 2013 (Nach einer ersten Auflage bei Hanser, 1999).

Library catalogue

The Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek in Weimar: The Study Centre

The Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek celebrated its reopening as a research library with the inauguration of its new Study Centre on 4 February 2005. The new library quarter, in which all functional areas of the library are concentrated, from the lending desk to the media library, offers around 7000 square metres of space for one million books and their users. For the first time, the 300-year-old library's holdings, which date from the 9th century to the present day, have been brought together in one place.

This volume documents the history of the extension building and the two underground stacks in the immediate vicinity of the historic main building and presents the concept of the research library.

Die Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek in Weimar: Das Studienzentrum. Herausgegeben von Michael Knoche. Mit Fotografien von Claus Bach und Ulrich Schwarz. Berlin : Nicolai, 2006.

Library catalogue