Profile

Tasks and goals

The tasks and goals of the Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek are determined by its function as an archive and research library of European literary and cultural history with a special focus on the era of 1750 to 1850.

The library actively works to provide and safeguard access to collection items with the aid of innovative conservation methods, and conducts research-based investigation of provenances and collection contexts.

As part of its ongoing activities to expand its collections, the library regularly purchases historical objects and modern research literature.

With respect to its presentation and educational activities, the library recognises digital transformation as a key challenge. It strives to apply and integrate state-of-the-art technology to ensure access to its research findings, objects and digital collections. On-site cultural and professional training programmes introduce the public and the research community to the world of the library.

Learn more: Library director Reinhard Laube an the Agenda 2020 (in German)

Holdings

The material and structure of the historical and current media holdings of the Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek are the product of an eventful history and the changing functions of the library.

About one-third of the entire collection is described in more detail in the handbook on the historical holdings (see reference below). There are three focal areas which one can find in these holdings:

1. There is a considerable number of private and institutional libraries (formerly owned by writers, scholars, the ducal house, literary societies) which are distinct from one another or are integrated into the library’s general holdings according to systematic criteria.
2. There are several collections with clearly defined thematic focuses (worker education, Faust, catechisms, military affairs), which provide source material for historical, literary, art-historical, sociological and folkloristic research.
3. The general collection contains special thematic focuses (e.g. travel, fairy tales, architecture, gardens and parks and music) and disciplines (e.g. folklore, library science and cartography).

Thanks to this multifaceted composition, the library – as a source-oriented, interdisciplinary and cultural-scientific institution – is a valuable resource for researchers, especially those in the fields of literary studies, German studies, philosophy, art history, theatre studies and cultural anthropology.

Today the library’s holdings comprise approximately 1.1 million books, 2,600 bound manuscripts, 8,600 maps and 29 globes. In addition, the library contains countless sound carriers, microforms, electronic data carriers, online databases and e-books.

For further information about the collections stored at the Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek, view here.

Reference

Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek. In: Handbuch der historischen Buchbestände in Deutschland. Bernhard Fabian (ed.). Hildesheim: Olms. vol. 21: Thüringen S - Z. Friedhilde Krause (ed.), 1999. pp. 101-127.  (in our catalogue, digital version)

Recent acquisitions

The acquisition profile of the Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek is characterised by the major epochal upheavals of modern times: the Reformation which began in Thuringia in the 16th century, the age of the French Revolution around 1800, the arrival of modernism in Weimar at the turn of the 20^th century, and the more recent cultural upheavals of the late 20^th and early 21^st century. However, the library mainly focuses on acquiring works of literary and cultural historical significance dating back to 1750 to 1850. As part of the retrospective expansion of its collection, the library regularly purchases supplementary works and endeavours to replace historical prints that were lost in the library fire of 2004.

In terms of the historical-critical orientation of the collection, the recent acquisitions tie into the collection traditions of the library: works of fiction, new media of the Enlightenment (almanacs, calendars, pocket books), travel literature, natural history, family registers, military-political literature from around 1800, atlases and globes. Additional segments in its acquisition profile include the central authors, works, subject matter and motifs of world literature, e.g. Dante, Petrarca and Shakespeare, and larger literary complexes, e.g. Faust, Reineke Fuchs and Münchhausen. The library intensively collects publications by and about Friedrich Nietzsche, Franz Liszt and the protagonists of the Bauhaus in Weimar.

For information about our most recent acquisitions, see our electronic recent acquisition list. All works acquired within the past five months are listed and subdivided into eight subject-related categories.

Facts and Figures

Find out more in our annual reports:

The annual reports are published in our magazine "SupraLibros". It can be accessed digitally via our publication server.