Director General

Frank Scholze succeeded to the post of Director General of the German National Library in January 2020. He is assisted by Ute Schwens, his permanent representative in Frankfurt am Main, and Johannes Neuer, his permanent representative in Leipzig. After completing studies in library science, art history and English, he took part in various digital library projects and was in charge of the user services department at Stuttgart University Library. In 2010, following two years at the Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts in Baden-Württemberg, he was appointed director of the library of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT).

From 2016 to 2022, he was a member of the federal executive committee of the German Library Association (dbv). He is a member of numerous other scientific committees and councils, including the academic council of German National Library of Science and Technology Hannover (TIB) and the ETH Library Lab.
Since December 2021, he has been chairman of the Conference of European National Librarians (CENL).

Contact: generaldirektion@dnb.de

Director in Leipzig

Photo: Johanna Baschke

Johannes Neuer is the Director of the German National Library in Leipzig and the Director General’s permanent representative there.

The media and communications scientist has been working in the fields of digital media, marketing and customer experience for more than 20 years. From 2009 to 2018, he was an executive member at the New York Public Library. After almost five years as the Library Director of ekz.bibliotheksservice GmbH in Reutlingen, he took charge of our location in Leipzig in August 2023.

Contact: direktion-leipzig@dnb.de

Director in Frankfurt am Main

Ute Schwens is the Director of the German National Library in Frankfurt am Main and the Director General’s permanent representative there.

She has worked in various capacities at the German National Library in Frankfurt am Main since 1980. Ute Schwens has been the Director of our Frankfurt am Main premises since 1999. Her professional focus includes digital publications, digitization and access to digital Information as well as internal communication and public relations.

Ute Schwens is actively involved with several national and international committees as a member or the chair: joint working group of the Federation of European Publishers (FEP) and National Libraries, Europeana, German National Committee of the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA), German Commission for UNESCO, competence network of the Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek (German Digital Library), Advisory Board of the Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz and Board of Trustees of Martin-Opitz-Library.

Contact: direktion-frankfurt@dnb.de

Staff Unit Strategic Development and Communication

This staff unit supports the Director General, supervises the committees and monitors the strategy cycle. It is the central point of contact for external communications, press and public relations, and marketing.
Head: Ute Schwens
Contact: direktion-frankfurt@dnb.de

German Music Archive

National repository for printed music and sound recordings and Germany’s music bibliography information centre.
Head: Ruprecht Langer
Contact: info-dma@dnb.de

Department German Museum of Books and Writing

Documentary research centre for book culture and media history.
Head: Dr. Stephanie Jacobs
Contact: dbsm-info@dnb.de

Department German Exile Archive 1933–1945

Archive of printed and non-printed testimonies to German emigration and exile between 1933 and 1945.
Head: Dr. Sylvia Asmus
Contact: s.asmus@dnb.de

Central Domain Administration

Responsible for legal affairs; budgeting, accounting and cash management; organisation, control of positions, controlling; human resources, vocational and further training; back office, facility management and procurement.
Head: Dorothea Zechmann
Contact: zentralverwaltung@dnb.de

Domain Acquisitions and Cataloguing

Responsible for fulfilling the German National Library's collection mandate and cataloguing the acquired media works for the German National Bibliography.

This task also encompasses the development of the processes used, for example the machine-based generation of cataloguing data and coordinating the standardisation of bibliographic cataloguing codes and data exchange formats in Germany, Austria and the German-speaking parts of Switzerland along with management of the Integrated Authority File.
Head: Ulrike Junger
Contact: leitung-ee@dnb.de

Department of Collection Development and Descriptive Cataloguing

Responsible for acquisition of the physical media encompassed by the DNB’s collection mandate and the descriptive cataloguing of these.
Head: Constanze Schumann
Contact: leitung-bf@dnb.de

Department of Subject Cataloguing

Responsible for the subject cataloguing of the physical media encompassed by the DNB's collection mandate.
Head: N. N.
Contact: leitung-ie@dnb.de

Domain Information Infrastructure

Responsible for the ingest and long-term archiving of digital media and for operating library systems.

It provides and develops IT services in all of the German National Library's areas of work.
The domain is also involved in the development of the German National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI) and the services which the German National Library offers specifically for researchers besides being in charge of coordinating the competence network nestor. The tasks performed by the Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek (German Digital Library) in Frankfurt am Main are also integrated into this domain.
Head: Dr. Peter Leinen
Contact: fblit@dnb.de

Domain User Services and Preservation

The Domain User Services and Preservation is responsible for the use, provision, management and permanent preservation of all collections, as well as for the majority of digitisation-related services.
Head: Renate Gömpel
Contact: r.goempel@dnb.de

Department of User Services and Collection Management

Responsible for the reading rooms and user services on site and for managing the holdings.
Head: Susanne Theile
Contact: s.theile@dnb.de

Department of Digital Services

Offers a wide variety of services for libraries, research institutions, publishers and booksellers, and is responsible for digitisation measures.
Head: Anke Meyer-Heß (temporary)
Contact: a.meyer@dnb.de

Organisational chart

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Our Management Principles

Our management culture is founded upon management principles, open and trust-based cooperation and an orientation towards reaching common goals. In this respect the management principles are binding not only for managers, but for all employees of the German National Library.

It is the responsibility of all of us to put the management principles into practice and to ensure that all employees can work successfully at the German National Library

Employees

617 staff – pay scale employees and civil servants – work in Leipzig and Frankfurt am Main. Their knowledge, skills, dedication and commitment enable the DNB to perform its highly diversified national and international tasks.
As employer, we guarantee equal opportunities for women and men. This also means that we purposefully promote the reconciliation of job and family life by means of flexible worktime models, regulations on mobile work and alternating telework. We offer the social benefits customary in public service such as generous holiday entitlements and a company pension.

Committees

Administrative Council

The Administrative Council makes decisions on all matters that are of fundamental or significant economic importance for the DNB and its development.

It consists of 13 members:

German Bundestag (Parliament):

• Ansgar Heveling, Member of the German Bundestag, Berlin
• Helge Lindh, Member of the German Bundestag, Berlin

Federal Government:

• Dr. Andreas Görgen for the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media, Berlin (Chair)
• Maria Bering for the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media, Berlin
• Marion Steinberger, Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Berlin

Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels (German Book Traders’ Association):

• Peter Kraus vom Cleff, Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels, Frankfurt am Main
• Professor Dr. Wulf-Dietrich von Lucius
• Dr. Annette Nünnerich-Asmus, Nünnerich-Asmus Verlag & Media GmbH, Oppenheim

German Research Foundation:

• Dr. Johannes Fournier, German Research Foundation (DFG), Bonn

Deutscher Musikverlegerverband (German Association of Music Publishers):

• Clemens Scheuch, Bärenreiter Verlag, Kassel

Bundesverband Musikindustrie e. V. (German Music Industry Association):

• Dr. Florian Drücke, Bundesverband Musikindustrie e. V., Berlin

City of Frankfurt am Main:

• Dr. Ina Hartwig , City of Frankfurt am Main – Department of Culture and Science, Frankfurt am Main

City of Leipzig:

• Dr. Skadi Jennicke, City of Leipzig – Department of Culture, Leipzig

Advisory Committee of the German National Library

The advisory committee of the German National Library consists of up to 12 experts in the fields of library and information services, publishing and the book trade. They advise the Administrative Council and the Director General on all matters relating to the DNB.

Members appointed by the Administrative Council of the German National Library (term: June 1, 2023 to May 31, 2027):

• Dr. Achim Bonte, Berlin State Library – Prussian Cultural Heritage
• Sabine Brünger-Weilandt, FIZ Karlsruhe – Leibniz Institute for Information Infrastructure
• Dr. Stephan Dietrich, Junfermann Verlag, Paderborn
• Branka Felba, Missing Link mail order bookshop & newspaper agency, Bremen
• Dr. Sabine Homilius, Magistrate of the City of Frankfurt am Main, City Library (Office 44), Frankfurt am Main
• Dr. Antje Kellersohn, Freiburg University Library
• Tobias Koerner, Verlag Valentin Koerner GmbH, Baden-Baden
• Prof. Dr. Gudrun Oevel, Centre for Information and Media Technology (IMT), Paderborn (Chair)
• Dorette Peters, Penguin Random House Verlagsgruppe GmbH, München
• Daniela Poth, University Library Johann Christian Senckenberg, Frankfurt am Main
• Kilian Steiner, Verlag C.H.Beck oHG, München
• Matthias Ulmer, Eugen Ulmer Verlag GmbH & Co., Stuttgart (Vice-Chair)

Ex officio members - § 8 (2) DNBG

Chair of the Advisory Committee for the German Music Archive at the German National Library:

• Professor Dr. Wolfgang Rathert, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Department Kunstwissenschaften, Institut für Musikwissenschaft

Advisory Committee for the German Music Archive

The Advisory Committee for the German Music Archive advises the Administrative Council and the Director General in matters relating specifically to the German Music Archive. It consists of up to twelve experts from music libraries, music publishers, record libraries and the music recording industry.

Members appointed by the Administrative Council of the German National Library (term: June 1, 2023 to May 31, 2027):

• Thomas Albers, rock’n’popmuseum, Gronau/Westfalen
• Birgit Böcher, Deutscher Musikverleger-Verband e. V., Berlin
• Guido Evers, GVL – Gesellschaft zur Verwertung von Leistungsschutzrechten mbH, Berlin
• Silvia Moisig, Berlin (Vice-Chair)
• Dr. Reiner Nägele, Bavarian State Library, Music Department, Munich
• Jöran Plesch, Phononet GmbH, Hamburg
• Professor Dr. Wolfgang Rathert, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, School of Arts, Institute of Musicology (Chair)
• Dr. Martina Rebmann, Berlin State Library – Prussian Cultural Heritage, Music Department with Mendelssohn Archive
• Dr. Martin Schaefer, BOEHMERT & BOEHMERT Anwaltspartnerschaft mbB, Potsdam
• Dietmar Schlumbohm, Phononet GmbH, Hamburg
• Monika Schneider, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden
• Dr. Heinz Stroh, Deutscher Musikverleger-Verband e. V., Bonn
• Arne Björn Segler, Schott Music GmbH & Co. KG, Mainz
• N.N., Bundesverband Musikindustrie e.V., Berlin

Ex officio members - § 8 (2) DNBG

Chair of the Advisory Committee of the German National Library:

• Prof. Dr. Gudrun Oevel, Centre for Information and Media Technology (IMT), Paderborn