21 November 2024 press release

In October 2024 the German Museum of Books and Writing at the German National Library returned three volumes from the Prince of Stolberg-Wernigerode Library to Prince Philipp of Stolberg-Wernigerode. These are two volumes of a Latin edition of Pliny the Younger’s Natural History from the 18th century and a book of instructions on the art of writing printed in Wernigerode in 1731.

The volumes were identified in the context of a cooperation project with the Berlin State Library that is funded by the German Lost Art Foundation in Magdeburg. The goal of the project is to explore the sales channels and trading practices of the Central Antiquarian Bookstore of the GDR that was founded in Leipzig in 1959. The project focusses in particular on the origin of the book collections that were sold to libraries in the GDR as well as to the Federal Republic of Germany, and that include both books looted by the Nazis and those confiscated during the land reform. The research of the purchases made from the Central Antiquarian Bookstore by the German Museum of Books and Writing also brought to light the connection to the Stolberg-Wernigerode library.

The Prince of Stolberg-Wernigerode Library is one of the big historic aristocrat's libraries and comprised more than 130,000 volumes in the 1920s. Owing to financial difficulties, the princely house was forced to sell the most valuable manuscripts and books through the antiquarian bookstores Jacques Rosenthal and Karl W. Hiersemann in 1928/1929. In the context of forced administration of the assets of the Stolberg-Wernigerode family, the antiquarian bookseller Martin Breslauer from Berlin was asked to sell the entire library in 1930, and the Prussian State Library in Berlin bought the hymnology section and the funeral sermons. By 1933, when the cooperation with Breslauer came to an end, he had sold around 31,000 volumes. In 1946, the Soviet trophy brigade transported around 50,000 volumes from the library to the Soviet Union. The remaining parts were confiscated in the land reform and brought to the University and State Library in Halle in 1948. The three volumes that were now restituted were bought from the Central Antiquarian Bookstore by the German Museum of Books and Writing, the world’s oldest book museum, in 1977 and 1987.

Alongside the stamps of the library of the Count of Stolberg, the researchers noticed the signatures and duplicate notes from the University and State Library in Halle. These suggested that the volumes had been confiscated during the land reform and been examined in Halle but were not added to the library’s collection. It remains unknown, how and when they came to the Central Antiquarian Bookstore from Halle.

Books that were confiscated in the land reform are subject to the provisions of the Indemnification and Compensation Act from 1994. The three volumes have meanwhile been returned to the Prince of Stolberg-Wernigerode Library, where they are publicly accessible. With Prince Philipp of Stolberg-Wernigerode’s permission, the German National Library digitalised the volumes before returning them, so they remain part of the Klemm collection of the German Museum of Books and Writing in digital form.

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.

With the German Exile Archive 1933-1945 and the German Museum of Books and Writing, the German National Library also has valuable and rich special collections. 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 diverse programme of events.

Information on provenance research at the German National Library

dnb.de/provenanceresearch

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