2016 - News - Detail Page - Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz

Completely renovated and modernised, equipped with a general and six reading rooms for the special collections, group study rooms and a spacious information centre - from 1 February 2021, the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin will once again welcome researchers from all over the world to its building on Unter den Linden, provided this is possible due to the pandemic.

A few days earlier, on 25 January 2021, Bundestag President Wolfgang Schäuble will honour this significant moment in the library's 360-year history with a speech broadcast online - in the presence of Minister of State for Culture Monika Grütters, the President of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation Hermann Parzinger and the Director General of the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin Barbara Schneider-Kempf.

The Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin will then be able to provide its full range of services at its two main locations again - provided the pandemic restrictions allow it: the Potsdamer Straße building, the Research Library of Modern Art, and the Unter den Linden building, the Historical Research Library.

The general refurbishment and modernisation of the Unter den Linden building was largely completed last autumn. After 15 years of planning and construction work, the responsible building authority, the Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning, symbolically handed over the keys to the Unter den Linden building. This was followed by the relocation of extensive inventories and numerous offices from several interim locations as well as various dismantling works. Among other things, the entrance to this largest historical building complex in the centre of Berlin had to be moved back to the boulevard Unter den Linden. With the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, all work had to be interrupted and later postponed.

Hermann Parzinger, President of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation: "We are preserving a unique building that combines old and new, a state-of-the-art centre of excellence, a treasure trove of cultural heritage and a cathedral of knowledge, and we are delighted that we will soon be able to hand it over for public use. The fact that Bundestag President Wolfgang Schäuble is underlining this historic moment in the history of the building with his presence and speech underlines the importance of the institution with its globally unique holdings and the recovery of a landmark in the historic centre of Berlin. I would like to thank the Director General and all the staff of the Staatsbibliothek for always ensuring that the library could be used by the public, albeit with restrictions, during the long construction period and for preparing the building for its reopening."

Barbara Schneider-Kempf, Director General of the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin - Preußischer Kulturbesitz: "The architecture of the building and the design of the reading rooms with their 663 workstations span around one hundred years. The building, which was inaugurated in 1914, was severely damaged by bombing during the Second World War and could only be systematically repaired after German reunification with a great deal of planning and financial commitment on the part of the federal government. The fact that this enormous building project always received public support emphasises the importance of the institution, which stands for the preservation of unique collections as well as for the outstanding quality of library services for research and culture. The ultra-modern stacks and vaults house centuries-old testimonies of thought and creativity, including world-class treasures such as Beethoven's Symphonies Nos. 3, 5 and 9 and the estates of Alexander von Humboldt and Dietrich Bonhoeffer."