AARL

Review article

The many faces of libraries: two publications of the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin

Die Besondere Bibliothek oder: Die Faszination von Büchersammlungen. Herausgegeben von Antonius Jammers, Dietger Pforter, Winfried Sühlo. Redaktion: Martin Hollender. Berlin, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin [and] Freunde der Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin eV Munich Saur 2002 xvi pp344 ISBN 3 598 11625 X 49.00 Euros [The Special Library, or The Fascination of Book Collections]

'Un Havre de Paix' Die Kriegsgefangenen Französischen Offiziere an der Preussischen Statsbibliothek in Berlin 1941-1945 by Ulrike Hollender. (Beiträge aus der Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin Preussischer Kulturbesitz vol 14) Berlin Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin 2002 pp350 ISBN 3 89500 2 58.50 Euros ['A Haven of Peace'. The French Prisoner of War Officers at the Prussian State Library in Berlin, 1942-1945]

The State Library in Berlin (SBB), from 1918-1945 known as the Prussian State Library, is one of the great European libraries. Its collections are particularly rich in manuscripts, music scores and considerable holdings of printed books. Vicissitudes of politics and war in the twentieth century scarred and truncated the Library, but now since the 1990 reunification of Germany, the State Library's Eastern and Western parts are together again in two large buildings in Berlin. Like a great number of major scholarly libraries, SBB has an active publications program of fine exhibition catalogues, festschriften and monographs. Most of these concentrate on the complex history and collections of SBB.

The 22 contributions in the well-presented The Special Library or, The Fascination of Book Collections, form a book whose title is misleading if translated literally. It is really better rendered in English as Something Special about Libraries. It is jointly produced by SBB and the Friends of SBB, a group comprising scholars and knowledgeable collectors. The volume's wide scope in time and place and its varying depth of treatment make it difficult to cover it adequately in a short review. But this variety makes for attractive reading which is enhanced by the illustrations, some in colour. In sum, we might characterise the volume as a contribution to the cultural study of the book and of library history with a stress on Berlin in particular.

A core of 11 lengthy contributions (pp1-204) deal with specific libraries at Corvey, the King's Library in the British Library, the Polish Jagiellone Library, the Library of Peter the Great in Saint Petersburg, and the major German scholarly libraries at Wolfenbüttel, Frankfurt, Weimar, Marbach, Munich and, of course, SBB itself. The authors are almost entirely the chiefs of the libraries concerned. The first contribution of this group is by the historian of the Reichstag Library, Gerhard Hahn, and deals with the short-lived library of the 1848 German National Assembly (pp1-18). All these contributions impressively set out the salient points about the respective libraries and make it clear to the reader what a range of culturally significant collections and services they offer, all this despite the ravages of World War Two.

Other contributions range more widely, two dealing with the personal libraries of the playwright Brecht and of the famous historian, T Mommsen, whose extensive private collection was destroyed in July 1880 by his carelessness with a lamp. Of more contemporary relevance are contributions on U Eco's well-known and controversial essay on libraries (in a spirited riposte to Eco's views by Martin Hollender, pp275-294), the use of collections of books in cafés, restaurants and department stores to create a special 'ambience' (examples in Berlin are described), and books as themes in contemporary art (mentioning Anselm Kiefer's 'library' installation in the former Hamburg rail station in Berlin, and exhibitions by other artists, such as W Nieblich and David Bunn, pp307-319, and pp243-147). Bunn, an American artist, has used discarded catalogue cards from the Los Angeles Central Library for an exhibition entitled: Deep Storage - Arsenals of Memory. A short essay (pp295-305) on the Nazi book burnings of May 1933 by Wolfgang Frühwald, a prominent scholar, is important for those concerned with the place of the book in civilised society. The final brief essay (text 321, pp324-5) in this colourful collection is by the well-known, prickly writer H M Enzensberger. Entitled The User: A Postscript, his piece offers several stings worth mentioning here.

Enzensberger makes the point that the user is not covered by the contributions in the collection, hence the title of his short contribution. He says in fact: '... without being unfair, one may claim that [readers] in general, especially in Germany, are considered a quantité négligeable' (p324). As a long-time library user, Enzensberger claims expertise on this score. He has lively praise for library service in New York, but expressly warns users against ever putting foot in the Bavarian State Library! He speculates about the reason for this lamentable position in Germany: have libraries so little public support, he asks, because they have neglected the simple user who wants to read a book? This is not a lone voice, and the Eco book to which Martin Hollender replies has similar charges. This reviewer has personal experience of German libraries and can vouch that some of them are not welcoming, but others by contrast are excellent. Of course, public, state, university and research libraries seek to address different clienteles and needs. Too much generalisation on 'the user' can be very misleading. Certainly the faults Enzensberger points to (discourtesy of staff, long waiting times for delivery of books, confusing catalogues) cannot do much for the reputation of libraries and their staffs as a class. SBB should consider another publication that takes up the Enzensberger charges.

Die Besondere Bibliothek contains much stimulating material, but it is entirely in German. It is a good acquisition for research libraries collecting in German studies and in the study of books and libraries. It provides much that can be read with both pleasure and profit.

The second work to be reviewed here is vol 14 of SBB's inhouse series Contributions from SBB. It is an illustrated monograph whose French title rewards curiosity with a well documented picture of a little known aspect of SBB and the German home front (in Berlin) in the period 1941-1945 (p18). The book is based on a study by Ulrike Hollender, done originally at the library school in Cologne: its French title A Haven of Peace quotes the sentiments of one of the French officers who worked as a prisoner of war (POW) at SBB. The work is dedicated to two of the surviving French prisoners. The text is wholly in German. The topic, although specialised, turns out to be engrossing and relevant to interests and values ranging beyond library work, performed by POWs in this famous library. It seems that POWs also worked in other German libraries, but in the case of SBB, research is aided by the availability of considerable official documentation, personal letters and the surveys that the author conducted by phone and letter, if not in person, with survivors and their relatives in France.

Under the terms of the Geneva Convention, interned officers cannot be compelled to work for their captors, but they may consent to do so. In Germany, the manpower shortage during the war was an enormous burden and the director general of the Prussian State Library (now SBB), Hugo A Krüss, negotiated with the head of the French Bibliothèque Nationale, Bernard Fay, to permit French officers interned in Germany to volunteer for employment (and pay) by SBB. This permission meant that the officers could not be accused of collaboration with the enemy. The author's Afterword records the postwar fate in France of a number of these officers: some did indeed encounter difficulties, whereas others pursued successful careers (pp321-337). Not the least interesting aspect of this book is the light it shines on the whole POW question: there were some 1.6m French interned in Germany and about 6-7m other non-Germans, working or conscripted in the German economy.

We are given insight into the bureaucratic maze that Krüss had to negotiate before an initial group of five officers started work in Berlin. The author devotes considerable attention to the personality of the director general, a member (from 1941) of the Nazi Party, but long before the War a person well regarded among the European library community. Appointed by Goebbels to be Commissar overseeing the library and archive affairs of occupied countries such as France, Krüss played a crucial role in resisting the Nazi view that materials in French libraries should be transferred to German libraries (pp74-75). The exceptional attention Krüss paid to the concerns of his French officers makes it obvious that the director general regarded them as 'colleagues' (p147): this is in fact how the officers interpreted his actions and often direct intervention for their welfare. The letters quoted by Ulrike Hollender, especially those from René Robinet (pp337-338), are unmistakable in this regard. A Haven of Peace is an effort to restore the reputation of Krüss who appears to have committed suicide in April 1945. He and some other staff were living in the library building during the final days of the Battle of Berlin. Because of the chaotic circumstances of the time he was buried in the inner courtyard of SBB.[1]

The French working in SBB were all professional men with experience in archives and libraries in France. Several were bookbinders, others were specialists in mediaeval studies, palaeography, cataloguing and other library skills. The author gives us ample material about the tasks they performed. For instance, several of them worked on the famous Union Catalogue of Incunabula (GKW), a task the author considers a 'pure luxury' under the prevailing wartime conditions. In 1943 new regulations led to POWs being released 'on leave' so that they could become full members of the German workforce. This changed their living conditions, pay and freedom of movement in some significant ways. Some of the Frenchmen moved to other jobs, but a real bond was established between them and SBB. As wartime conditions deteriorated, the POWs now 'on leave' who remained with SBB helped transfer stock and valuable items out of Berlin, participated in air raid precautions and assisted in other ways (cf. p309, p319).

Ulrike Hollender's book gives a close view of SBB striving to stay viable under extraordinary wartime conditions. She is obviously sympathetic to the director general and wins our interest for him. But the main theme of the book is the way the French officers became valued assistants to SBB, how they related to the unusual situation in which they were placed, and how their experiences proved positive for their view of the Germans they encountered at SBB. The problems that are inherent in the relations between the conqueror and the conquered are touched on. This is a topic for a different book but the information Ulrike Hollender provides here is of great value since it fills in one gap in the complex historical mosaic of the War.

Highly recommended for research and large reference collections dealing with the German war effort on the home front and for collections concerned with the impact of war on libraries and on the history of the former Prussian State Library.

Note

1. For fuller details about this event, see Schochow, Werner Die Preussische Staatsbibliothek 1918-1945. Ein geschichtlicher Überblick. Mit einem Quellenteil. Cologne Böhlau 1989

R L Cope was NSW parliamentary librarian 1962-1991. He writes and reviews for the Australian Library Journal and Australian Academic & Research Libraries.