German National Library - History

History

Already in 1848, there had been plans for a German national library. After the restauration, they were not pursued any longer, the stock of books already in existence was stored at the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg. In 1912, the town of Leipzig, seat of the annual Leipzig Book Fair, the kingdom of Saxony and the Börsenverein der Deutschen Buchhändler (Association of German booksellers) agreed to found a German National Library located in Leipzig. Starting January 1, 1913, all publications in German language were systematically collected (including books from Austria and Switzerland). In the same year, Dr. Gustav Wahl was elected as the first director. I n 1946 Dr. Georg Kurt Schauer, Heinrich Cobet, Vittorio Klostermann and Professor Hanns Wilhelm Eppelsheimer, director of the Frankfurt University Library, initiate the re-foundation of a German archive library based in Frankfurt am Main. The federal state representatives of the book trade in the American zone agree to the proposal. The city of Frankfurt agrees to support the planned archive library with personnel and financial resources. The US military government gives its approval. The Library begins its work in the tobacco room of the former Rothschild library, which serves the bombed university library as accommodation. As a result there are two libraries in Germany, which assume the duties and function of a national library for the later GDR and the Federal Republic of Germany, respectively. Two national bibliographic catalogues appear, which are almost identical in content.

In July 2000, the DMA also assumed the role as repository for GEMA, Gesellschaft für musikalische Aufführungs- und mechanische Vervielfältigungsrechte, a German music copyright organization. Since then, music publishers only have to submit copies to DMA, which covers both national archiving and copyright registration. The 210,000 works of printed music previously held by GEMA were transferred to DMA.

With the unification of Germany on 3 October 1990, the Deutsche Bücherei Leipzig and the Deutsche Bibliothek Frankfurt am Main were merged into the new institution Die Deutsche Bibliothek. The "Law regarding the German National Library" came into force on 29 June 2006. The expansion of the collection brief to include online publications set the course for collecting, cataloguing and storing such publications as part of Germany's cultural heritage. The Library's highest management body, the Administrative Council, was expanded to include two MPs from the Bundestag. The law also changed the name of the library and its buildings in Leipzig, Frankfurt am Main and Berlin to "Deutsche Nationalbibliothek".