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Time travel through 650 years of Austrian National Library


From the Middle Ages through the baroque period to the present day: come with us on a short visit through the most important periods in the history of the Austrian National Library!

1300
1368
Evangeliar von Troppau, Einband

Foundation Codex and Medieval Treasure

Written in gold letters and superbly illuminated: the Troppau Gospel Book.

1400
1440
Siegel, AEIOU

Emperor Frederick III and the Bohemian Heritage

The book collection of Emperor Frederick III can be considered as forming the core holdings of the imperial court library

1500
Portrait Kaiser Maximilian I.

Emperor Maximilian I and the Origins of the “Bibliotheca Regia”“

The “Last Knight” sees to the expansion of the library, which for the first time is referred to as “Bibliotheca Regia”, royal library.  

1514
Portrait Augerius Ghislain von Busbeck

Scholars and Their Libraries

A gradual change of the library’s function: from preserving a treasure to a place of knowledge

1575
Portrait Hugo Blotius

Hugo Blotius: First Imperial Librarian

Emperor Maximilian II appoints the much-travelled Dutch scholar first official librarian. 

1600
1655
Portrait Bibliothekspräfekt Matthäus Mauchter

Acquisition of the Library of Philipp Fugger

The imperial library acquires a book collection comprising 15,000 volumes for 12,000 guilders. 

1663
Portrait Bibliothekspräfekt Peter Lambeck

Library Prefect Peter Lambeck

The term of office of the scholar from Hamburg sees the transfer of the Ambras library to Vienna

1700
1723
Deckenfresko Prunksaal

The Baroque World in the State Hall

The crucial turning point in the court library’s history: Emperor Charles VI initiates the construction of a library building in today’s Josefsplatz.  

1745
Portrait Gerard van Swieten

Gerard van Swieten Appointed Prefect of the Court Library

In 1745, the “Little Republican”, better known as Maria Theresa’s personal physician, is called to Vienna as prefect of the court library.  

1780
Portrait Gottfried van Swieten

The Oldest Card Catalogue

A milestone in the organisation of the library: Gottfried van Swieten (Gerard van Swieten’s son) compiles the first card catalogue in the history of librarianship

1784
Michael Denis als Bibliothekar

Scholarship at the Library – Michael Denis and Adam von Bartsch

Important scholars are called to the library under Gottfried van Swieten.   

1800
1806
Moritz Graf von Dietrichstein-Proskau-Leslie

National Library of the Austrian Empire

The establishment of individual collections facilitates the administration and analysis of the now separately grouped holdings. 

1848
Ernst von Birk

The Age of Reading

In a year of revolutions, the Hofburg is set on fire. Once the uprisings were crushed, the court library again becomes the centre of academic life.  

1899
Augustinerlesesaal

The Karabacek Period

Joseph von Karabacek’s term of office sees the acquisition of Archduke Rainer’s important papyrus collection and the opening of the Augustinian Reading Room

1900
1920
Josef Donabaum

The Court Library Becomes the National Library

After the fall of the monarchy the collections and the fideicommissum library pass into the possession of the republic. The library is now referred to as National Library. 



1934
Generaldirektor Josef Bick (1923-1938, 1945-49)

The National Library in the Corporate State

Public libraries are “purged” of Social Democratic literature. The National Library serves as a collecting point for confiscated books



1938
Bücherevakuierung aus dem Prunksaal 1943

Political Abuse of the Library under the NS-Regime

The National Library’s director pursues an aggressive acquisition policy. The loot is allocated to the library’s own holdings and to libraries of the Third Reich. 


1945
Das durch einen Bombentreffer im März 1945 zerstörte Albertina-Gebäude

A New Beginning in the Second Republic

The “National Library” is renamed “Austrian National Library” and becomes an important identity-creating symbol of the Second Republic



1966
Großer Lesesaal, Neue Hofburg, 1966

Moving into the Neue Burg

In 1966 a new and generously spaced user area was created at the Neue Burg for an ever-growing number of readers.

1992

Book Storage Depot, Aurum, General Refurbishment

In the following years, the new book storage depot beneath Burggarten, the reconstruction of the ground floor underneath the State Hall (Aurum) and the general refurbishment of the library’s user area contributed considerably to the improvement of the library’s spatial setting.

2000
ANNO, Screenshot

Taking off for the Digital Age

The Austrian National Library faces up to the challenges of the media revolution and seeks to make the best possible use of the possibilities arising from it. 

2002

Disincorporation from Federal Administration

Pursuant to the 2002 Federal Museum Act, the Austrian National Library was spun off from direct federal administration.

2003

Provenance Research and Restitution

In 2003, the Austrian National Library published its provenance report, on the basis of which it subsequently returned more than 50,000 objects illegally acquired during the Nazi regime to the legitimate heirs of the aggrieved parties.

2005

The Palais Mollard and the New Museums

With the Palais Mollard, the library gained an attractive new venue while important accents were added to its museums in the form of the Literature Museum at the Grillparzerhaus and the House of Austrian History.

2006

Long-term Strategic Concepts

In 2006, the Austrian National Library defined its strategic goals for the period 2007–11. Its focal points were on digitisation, the optimisation of catalogues, and long-term archiving. Based on the paper Vision 2025, which was set up in 2012, further strategic concepts followed for the periods 2012–16 and 2017–21.

2025
Vision 2025, Cover

The Library of the Future: Vision 2025

The transformation of a traditional twentieth-century academic library into an open knowledge centre of the twenty-first century is at the basis of the five crucial goals of Vision 2025.

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