bavarikon4UTreasures in the Staatliche Bibliothek Regensburg
The treasures from the Staatliche Bibliothek Regensburg (Regensburg State Library) presented here from five centuries represent the history and the varied collection structure of the "Kreisbibliothek" (district library) founded in 1816. Its foundation stock was fed by the libraries of the Imperial City of Regensburg's dissolved institutions. These included the holdings from the Regensburg monasteries (Benedictines in St. Emmeram, Dominicans, Carmelites, Augustinian monks, Franciscan Minorites and Capuchins, plus remains from the Jesuit library), which had fallen to the Bavarian state in the course of secularisation. The former Imperial City Library and the former Episcopal Library were also added.
Today the state library holds about 500,000 media, of which about 90,000 belong to the historical holdings before 1800, such as incunabula, manuscripts, historical maps, early prints and "Ratisbonensia". Among the more recent holdings, the personal estates and collections, literature on the Upper Palatinate and its communities, autographs and newspapers are of outstanding importance.
Two of the cimelia presented here come from the incunabula collection: a guide for Regensburg stonemasons, written by the cathedral architect Matthäus Roritzer (ca. 1440 - ca. 1495), and the so-called witch hammer of the Dominican monk Heinrich Krämer (1430-1505), in which the persecutions of witches are allegedly theologically justified. A view of Regensburg by the important artist Michael Ostendorfer (1490/94-1559) and a map of Europe in female form were selected from the 16th century. The 18th century is represented by a burial shroud from St. Emmeram and a school report for the high civil servant and poet Eduard von Schenk (1788-1841).
The 19th and 20th century are rung in by Napoleon's "Ordre du Jour" dated 23 April 1809, the day when French troops captured Regensburg. The small collection of treasures is completed with three pieces from the time of the First World War: On 2 August 1914, an extra page was published in the "Regensburger Anzeiger" announcing the outbreak of war with the Russian Empire. The "Kriegskochbüchlein" (little war cookbook) by the successful author and cook Marie Buchmeier (1833-1919) was published in 1915. Finally, one of the few surviving early Regensburg telephone books dates from 1916.
>> This collection is part of the holdings of the Staatliche Bibliothek Regensburg (State Library Regensburg).