Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin

Berlino, Germania

The Berlin State Library was founded in 1661 by Frederick William of Brandenburg as 'Library of the Prince‐elector'. In 1701, the library was renamed 'Royal Library at Berlin' and kept this name until the end of monarchy in Germany in 1918, then renamed to 'Prussian State Library'. During World War II the entire holdings (at the time some three million books and other materials) were hidden to safety in 30 monasteries, castles and disused mines. A part of its collections were returned to the original Berlin site at Unter den Linden (East) after 1945, and some relocated items were initially brought to West Germany, and stored after the late 1970s in the new building in Potsdamer Straße in Berlin (West). Some items of the collection are still located in Poland and the territories of the former Soviet Union.