In the Grand Duchy of Baden are the Hof- und Landesbibliothek at Carlsruhe (202,000 vols., 3800 MSS.), the University Library at Freiburg i/B (300,000 vols., 700 MSS.), and the University Library at Heidelberg. This, the oldest of the German University libraries, was founded in 1386. In 1623 the whole collection, described by Joseph Scaliger in 1608 as “locupletior et meliorum librorum quam Vaticana,” was carried as a gift to the pope and only the German MSS. were afterwards returned. The library was re-established in 1703, and after 1800 enriched with monastic spoils; it now contains about 400,000 vols. and 3500 MSS. for the most part of great value.
Among the State or University libraries of other German states should be mentioned Detmold (110,000 vols.); Jena (264,000 vols.); Neustrelitz (130,000 vols.); Oldenburg (126,000 vols.); Rostock (275,000 vols.); Schwerin (225,000 vols.); and Weimar (270,000), all possessing rich collections of MSS.
The Ducal Library of Gotha was established by Duke Ernest the Pious in the 17th century, and contains many valuable books and MSS. from monastic collections. It numbers about Gotha. 192,000 vols., with 7400 MSS. The catalogue of the oriental MSS., chiefly collected by Seetzen, and forming one-half of the collection, is one of the best in existence.
The Ducal Library at Wolfenbüttel, founded in the second half of the 16th century by Duke Julius, was made over to the university of Helmstedt in 1614, whence the most important treasures were returned to Wolfenbüttel in the 19th century; it now numbers 300,000 vols., 7400 MSS.
The chief libraries of the Hanse towns are: Bremen (Stadtbibliothek, 141,000 vols.), and Lübeck (Stadtbibliothek, 121,000 vols.); the most important being the Stadtbibliothek at Hamburg, made public since 1648 (383,000 vols., 7300 MSS., among them many Mexican). Hamburg has also in the Kommerzbibliothek (120,000 vols.) a valuable trade collection, and the largest Volksbibliothek (about 100,000 vols.) after that at Berlin. Alsace-Lorraine has the most recently formed of the great German collections—the Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek at Strassburg, which, though founded only in 1871 to replace that which had been destroyed in the siege, already ranks amongst the largest libraries of the empire. Its books amount to 922,000 vols., the number of MSS. is 5900.
The Adressbuch der Bibliotheken der Oesterreich-ungarischen Monarchie by Bohatta and Holzmann (1900) describes 1014 libraries in Austria, 656 in Hungary, and 23 in Bosnia Austria. and Herzegovina. Included in this list, however, are private lending libraries.
The largest library in Austria, and one of the most important collections in Europe, is the Imperial Public Library at Vienna, apparently founded by the emperor Frederick III. in 1440, although its illustrious librarian Lambecius, in the well-known inscription over the entrance to the library which summarizes its history attributes this honour to Frederick’s son Maximilian. However this may be, the munificence of succeeding emperors greatly added to the wealth of the collection, including a not inconsiderable portion of the dispersed library of Corvinus. Since 1808 the library has also been entitled to the copy-privilege in respect of all books published in the empire. The sum devoted to the purchase and binding of books is £6068 annually. The number of printed vols. is 1,000,000; 8000 incunabula. The MSS. amount to 27,000, with 100,000 papyri of the collection of Archduke Rainer. The main library apartment is one of the most splendid halls in Europe. Admission to the reading-room is free to everybody, and books are also lent out under stricter limitations. The University Library of Vienna was established by Maria Theresa. The reading-room is open to all comers, and the library is open from 1st Oct. to 30th June from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.; in the other months for shorter hours. In 1909 447,391 vols. were used in the library, 45,000 vols. lent out in Vienna, and 6519 vols. sent carriage free to borrowers outside Vienna. The number of printed vols. is 757,000. For the purchase of books and binding the Vienna University Library has annually 60,000 crowns from the state as well as 44,000 crowns from matriculation fees and contributions from the students.
The total number of libraries in Vienna enumerated by Bohatta and Holzmann is 165, and many of them are of considerable extent. One of the oldest and most important libraries of the monarchy is the University Library at Cracow, with 380,000 vols. and 8169 MSS.
The number of monastic libraries in Austria is very considerable. They possess altogether more than 2,500,000 printed vols., 25,000 incunabula and 25,000 MSS. The oldest of them, and the oldest in Austria, is that of the monastery of St Peter at Salzburg, which was established by Archbishop Arno (785-821). It includes 70,000 vols., nearly 1500 incunabula. The three next in point of antiquity are Kremsmünster (100,000), Admont (86,000) and Melk (70,000), all of them dating from the 11th century. Many of the librarians of these monastic libraries are trained in the great Vienna libraries. There is no official training as in Prussia and Bavaria.
Information about income, administration, accessions, &c., of the chief libraries in the Hungarian kingdom, are given in the Hungarian Statistical Year Book annually. The largest library in Hungary is the Széchenyi-Nationalbibliothek Hungary. at Budapest, founded in 1802 by the gift of the library of Count Franz Széchenyi. It contains 400,000 printed vols., 16,000 MSS., and has a remarkable collection of Hungarica. The University Library of Budapest includes 273,000 printed books and more than 2000 MSS. Since 1897 there has been in Hungary a Chief Inspector of Museums and Libraries whose duty is to watch all public museums and libraries which are administered by committees, municipalities, religious bodies and societies. He also has undertaken the task of organizing a general catalogue of all the MSS. and early printed books in Hungary.