200 years ago, on 30 April 1825, 101 booksellers and publishers signed the bylaws that laid the foundations of the Börsenverein der Deutschen Buchhändler zu Leipzig (German Publishers' and Booksellers' Association of Leipzig). The Börsenverein's existence has continued uninterrupted since then, making it the oldest industrial organisation in Germany.

To mark this anniversary, the exhibition "Between Lines and Times" presents a selection of objects and documents from the extensive collections of the Börsenverein organisations in Leipzig and Frankfurt am Main, which are kept by the German Museum of Books and Writing. Divided into eight sections, the exhibits shed light on 200 years of eventful history as experienced by the Association and the book trade.

One of the Börsenverein's primary tasks was to organise the complex accounting procedures required to handle the various currencies used during the Book Fair. Foreign booksellers converged on Leipzig, the City of Books, twice a year in the spring and autumn. From 1797 to 1824, Potsdam-based publisher Carl Christian Horvath leased the Faculty of Theology's auditorium in the basement of the Paulinum, which was not used during the Book Fair, as a much-needed centre for handling transactions. The Börsenverein later took over the lease in order to establish its own exchange. The German Book Traders' Exchange in Ritterstraße was inaugurated in 1836.

Over the next few decades, the Börsenverein took action against pirate printing and price dumping. In 1888, the Börsenverein introduced fixed book prices. It also assisted with the drafting of copyright law. The Book Traders' Exchange soon became too small for the expanding trade organisation, and a prestigious new building, the Deutsche Buchhändlerhaus (German Book Dealers' House), was constructed in Hospitalstraße (now Gutenbergplatz) in 1888. Like much of the booksellers' quarter, the building was destroyed by the heavy bombing attack on Leipzig in December 1943. The site is now home to the Haus des Buches (House of the Book).
While the organisation established in Leipzig kept its headquarters after 1945, a separate German Publishers' and Booksellers' Association was founded in what was then West Germany. The two associations eventually merged in Frankfurt am Main on 1 January 1991, following the reunification of Germany.

The present-day Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels e. V. comprises around 4,000 publishers, booksellers, antiquarian book dealers, wholesalers and publishers' agents. The industry's most important journal is the Börsenblatt für den Deutschen Buchhandel which has been published without interruption since 1834.

To mark the 200th anniversary of the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels, Wallstein-Verlag has published a volume titled "Zwischen Zeilen und Zeiten. Buchhandel und Verlage 1825-2025" (Between Lines and Times. Booksellers and publishers 1825-2025) consisting of more than 200 short essays which tell a different story of the German Publishers' and Booksellers' Association.

"Between Lines and Times" is a contribution to "More Than a Story. Book City Leipzig", the City of Leipzig's chosen theme for 2025.

Information for your visit

Address and getting here

German National Library
German Museum of Books and Writing
Deutscher Platz 1
04103 Leipzig

Getting here

We advise you to use public transport.