Bavarian
State
Library
One of Europe's largest general libraries. Founded in 1558 as the court library of Albrecht V, since 1843 housed in the monumental building on Ludwigstraße built by Friedrich von Gärtner. Around 11 million media items.
From Albrecht's court to research library
Founded in 1558 as the court library of Duke Albrecht V, today's Bavarian State Library (BSB) ranks among Europe's five largest libraries. With around 11 million media items, including more than 40,000 manuscripts and 20,000 incunabula, it is a heavyweight in the history of scholarship as well: treasures such as the Babenberg Family Book, the Lex Salica and Mozart autographs.
In 1843 Friedrich von Gärtner built the monumental building at Ludwigstraße 16. Italian Renaissance, sandstone ashlar, a double flight of outside steps and four seated sculptures — Aristotle, Homer, Hippocrates and Thucydides — flank the entrance. The building is part of Gärtner's axis of knowledge and ecclesiastical buildings, between the university and the Ludwigskirche.
Today
Over 22,000 users a day, free access to almost all holdings, digitisation as a focus: the BSB operates the Munich Digitisation Centre (MDZ) and has digitised more than 2.8 million works. The reading-room area was fully refurbished 2008–2014.
More in the
University Quarter.
The other buildings of the area — galleries, museums, classicism, industrial history.