Press release: 5.6.2014

Since being founded 25 years ago on 7 June 1989 the “Gesellschaft für das Buch” (the society of friends of the German National Library) has demonstrated how the commitment of individuals can enrich a public institution in many different ways. During this period its members and donors have helped fund and support the work of the German National Library.

The “Gesellschaft für das Buch” supports projects which help strengthen the German National Library as an indispensable part of the cultural and educational landscape and as the cultural memory of Germany. The German National Library additionally requires private initiatives and public commitment if it is to continue growing as an information and memory institution. With their contributions and donations, the members support the purchase of special collections and the supplementation and preservation of existing holdings. They attach a great deal of importance to cultural education, especially in the form of exhibitions, readings, concerts and publications.
“Every library need friends - be it a national library, a local library or a university library,” explains Elisabeth Niggemann, Director General of the German National Library. “The Gesellschaft für das Buch has come to represent a crucial anchor in the social and political environment of the German National Library.”

“The Gesellschaft für das Buch plays a pivotal role by helping to support the library as part of Germany's cultural life. This is where membership of the society of friends of the library becomes charitable work because the library as an institution and its friends as members of society work together for the benefit of civil society,” points out the Chairperson of the circle of friends, Thomas de Greiff. “The Gesellschaft für das Buch will continue to support the German National Library in performing its challenging tasks and carrying out its cultural programme.”

Exhibitions, panel discussions, readings, specialist conferences, purchases of autographs, literary estates, shellac records or art prints: the financial and moral support of the members of the society of friends has made a great deal possible over the last 25 years. From the first major project, the “Buchzerfall und alterungsbeständiges Papier” symposium, and the ongoing acquisition of treasures for the special collections through to the many cultural events, the society of friends has consistently supported the library's public relations work and helped to supplement, preserve and maintain its holdings. It helped, for example, to obtain original lithographs of Günter Grass and letters from Stefan Zweig and Klaus Mann, to promote discussion about the need for an exile museum in Germany and to preserve holdings which were at risk of disintegration. A good example of the special publications issued by the society of friends is “Comics made in Germany – 60 Jahre deutsche Comics” issued in 2008. This year the society is helping to fund a frequently-requested concise guide to the permanent exhibition of the German Museum of Books and Writing. It is also supporting the panel discussion on “Exil und Sprache. Exilanten in Deutschland heute” (working title) as part of the “Deutsch 3.0” initiative of the Goethe-Institut, a platform for linguistic debates, lectures and performances about the German language.

Background

For over a century now the German National Library has been collecting, documenting, archiving and making publicly available all written and sound recording publications issued in Germany, or in German, since 1913.
It provides its comprehensive range of services at its twin sites in Leipzig and Frankfurt am Main, but also in digital form to a global circle of users. In addition the German National Library also houses valuable and extensive special collections in the German Exile Archive 1933-1945 and the German Museum of Books and Writing. It showcases its valuable collections and promotes the culture of books, reading and music by regularly staging readings, exhibitions, lectures and concerts. It houses almost 29 million media units and attracts roughly 220,000 visitors to its two sites in Leipzig and Frankfurt am Main with its collections and rich and varied programme of events.

Contact person
Dr. Natalie Kromm