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German National Library

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The German National Library is a very important place for history. It is one of the largest libraries in the whole world.

Deutsche Buecherei Hauptgebaeude mit Buecherturm
Deutsche Buecherei Hauptgebaeude mit Buecherturm

Its main job is to collect and save all German books. It also keeps books written in other languages that are about Germany. The library records all these items so people can find them later. This helps keep the culture of the country safe for a long time.

Deutsche Nationalbibliothek, Frankfurt
Deutsche Nationalbibliothek, Frankfurt

Collecting these items follows a special way of working. The library gathers books, journals, and even music. It also saves electronic works like digital files. Since 1913, it has worked to record every German publication. It even keeps works by people who had to leave Germany between 1933 and 1945. This special group of items is called the German Exile Archive. The library makes sure these important stories are not lost to time.

The history of the library began a long time ago. In 1848, people tried to start a library for a parliament. After that failed, the books were stored in a museum in Nuremberg. In 1912, leaders in the city of Leipzig decided to start a real national library. It officially began its work on January 1, 1913. A man named Gustav Wahl was chosen as the first director. Later, during the years from 1933 to 1945, things became very difficult for libraries. After the war, a new library was started in the city of Frankfurt.

Today, the library is split between two main cities. One part is in Leipzig and the other is in Frankfurt am Main. There is also a special music archive in Leipzig.

BibLeipzigaussen
BibLeipzigaussen

This music archive was founded as a federal agency in 1970. It holds both printed music and recorded music. Since 2010, it has been part of the main library in Leipzig. The library holds a huge amount of information. It has over 43.7 million items in total. This includes 17.3 million books and 8 million journals. It even has 10.7 million electronic publications.

You can learn a lot about how books work at the library. It is home to the German Museum of Books and Writing. This museum started in 1884 and is very old. It has more than one million items in its collection. The library also helps set rules for how libraries around the world work. It works with publishers to make sure every new book is saved. By doing this, the library connects the past to our world today. It makes sure that what people write now can be read by people in the future.

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File:Deutsche Buecherei Hauptgebaeude mit Buecherturm.JPG
Deutsche Buecherei Hauptgebaeude mit...
File:BibLeipzigaussen.JPG
BibLeipzigaussen.JPG
File:Deutsche Nationalbibliothek, Frankfurt.jpg
Deutsche Nationalbibliothek, Frankfurt.jpg
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