3 June 2024 press release

Participants in an international architecture competition for the realisation of an extension building at the German National Library in Leipzig receive the tender documents on 3 June 2024. This is the next step towards the construction of the fifth extension building in the more than 100-year history of the German National Library in Leipzig.

The German National Library has been collecting all text, image and sound media published in Germany, about Germany or in the German language since 1913. Every year, the number of physical media works added to the collection covers about 3.3 kilometres of shelving at each of the locations in Leipzig and Frankfurt am Main. The German National Library's unique mandate is to catalogue this ever-growing repository of knowledge and preserve it for posterity.

The building in Leipzig, which opened in 1916, has already had four extensions built onto it to meet the need for more space. The stacks at the Leipzig location will soon be full to capacity again. The fifth extension will be constructed on the south-east side of the original building on Deutscher Platz. This new repository building will house 213 kilometres of shelving, providing sufficient space to archive all the works added over the next thirty years. The construction work is expected to start at the end of 2026. The new building is scheduled to open in 2030.

The architecture competition was preceded by a Europe-wide call for competition, which drew entries from numerous applicants. 20 of these were selected to take part in the architecture competition. The designs and models are eagerly awaited. A jury of specialist and expert judges will meet in Leipzig on 10 September 2024 to evaluate them and decide on the winner.

The works created by all the competition entrants will be presented to the public at an exhibition held at the German National Library from 18 September to 1 October 2024.

More Information

www.dnb.de/extension

Background

The German National Library collects, documents and archives all written publications and sound recordings issued in Germany since 1913 together with works in German and about Germany published worldwide; it then makes them available to the public.

It offers a comprehensive range of services at its sites in Leipzig and Frankfurt am Main along with digital services that can be accessed all over the world.
The German National Library also holds a wealth of valuable special collections in the German Exile Archive 1933–1945 and the German Museum of Books and Writing. It regularly organises readings, exhibitions, presentations and concerts to draw attention to its treasures and promotes a culture of books, reading and music with a varied programme.

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