Bavarian State Library

Bavarian State Library
Bayerische Staatsbibliothek
The Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Munich
Map
LocationMunich, Bavaria, Germany
TypeAcademic library, regional library
Established1558; 466 years ago (1558)
Collection
Items collected33,921,166
Size10,629,764 (2017) Edit this on Wikidata
Legal deposityes, since 1663
Other information
DirectorKlaus Ceynowa
Websitewww.bsb-muenchen.de
Splendid stairway of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek
Aerial view of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek

The Bavarian State Library (German: Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, abbreviated BSB, called Bibliotheca Regia Monacensis before 1919) in Munich is the central "Landesbibliothek", i. e. the state library of the Free State of Bavaria, the biggest universal and research library in Germany and one of Europe's most important universal libraries. With its collections currently comprising around 10.89 million books (as of 2019), it ranks among the leading research libraries worldwide. The Bayerische Staatsbibliothek furthermore is Europe's second-largest journals library (after the British Library). Furthermore, its historical holdings encompass one of the most important manuscript collections of the world, the largest collection of incunabula worldwide, as well as numerous further important special collections. Its collection of historical prints before 1850 totals almost one million units.[1]

The legal deposit law, still applicable today, has been in force since 1663 and requires that two copies of every printed work published in Bavaria have to be submitted to the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek. The BSB publishes the specialist journal Bibliotheksforum Bayern and has been publishing the Bibliotheksmagazin together with the Berlin State Library since 2007. Its building is situated in the Ludwigstrasse.

  1. ^ "Bavarian State Library". Archived from the original on 2 April 2019.