The historical tour of the city
The Baden State Library
In the beginning of the 16th century the first holdings of a Baden library were located
in a room of the margrave's castle in Rastatt. This library had been split up for political
reasons; in 1765 the now reunited collection of the court library was brought from Durlach
to Karlsruhe. During the 19thcentury, the holdings of the secularized monasteries were
added to the library's collection which moved into the building of the present State
Natural History Museum on Friedrich Square. In 1942, 360.000 volumes were lost due
to air-raid damage. The library was first rebuilt in the neighbourhood of the Nymph's
Garden and moved in 1991 into the new building planned by Oswald Mathias Ungers in the
Erbprinzenstraße. During the last years, 19th century novels from the margrave of
Baden's private library and manuscripts and incunabula from the house of Fürstenberg
were added to the library's holdings which now comprise more than 1.4 million volumes.
The Baden State Theatre
The Baden State Library
Center for Art and Media - ZKM
Stadt Karlsruhe, 26.10.1998, Medienbüro BS/pf