Tragic lost inside one one of Germany's libraries

[Hardbopjazz]

By JOCHEN WIESIGEL, Associated Press Writer

WEIMAR, Germany - Thousands of irreplaceable books were feared lost or damaged in a fire at one of Germany's most precious libraries, though some 6,000 historical works — including a 1534 Martin Luther Bible — were saved by a chain of people who spirited them away from the flames, officials said Friday.

Officials were surveying the damage caused by the Thursday night fire in Weimar's Duchess Anna Amalia Library, housed in a 16th-century rococo-style palace. The fire broke out in a top floor and raged for two hours before firefighters put it out.

The cause is under investigation.

During the fire, workers managed to pass 6,000 books, including the Luther Bible and travel papers by naturalist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt, hand-to-hand to safety before having to abandon their rescue attempts when the ceiling threatened to collapse, said Hellmut Seeman, president of the Weimar Classics Foundation.

The area directly affected by the fire housed 12,000 to 13,000 historical books, according to Library director Michael Knoche. Officials were also worried about water and smoke damage to the rest of the collection.

The library holds about 1 million volumes at several places in Weimar, though the palace is the main location.

Its collection centers on German literature from 1750 to 1850. During that time, Germany's most revered writer, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, lived in Weimar, where his house remains a major tourist attraction. Friedrich Schiller, best known for his German classical dramas, spent the last years of his life in Weimar and died there in 1805.

Anna Amalia and her son, Duke Carl August, put Weimar on Europe's cultural map in the late 18th century. Seeking a tutor for her son, she hired Christoph Martin Wieland, a poet and translator of Shakespeare's works. She also created the library that bears her name.

[couw]

30 000 books lost

40 000 books damaged

lots of unreplaceable works among them

Edited September 3, 2004 by couw

[catesta]

I hate to see things like this.

History lost.

[sidewinder]

Think of all the literature across the millenia that have been lost to us - from the dark ages onwards. Here in England we have just a few precious remnants of Anglo-Saxon literature from the years 500 -1000 which were rare survivors from incidents such as this.It must be the same in Germany I guess..

[Joe]

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