We invite you to explore with us the history of the Fürstlich Waldecksche Hofbibliothek (Princely Court Library Waldeck) in Arolsen (FWHB).

A look back in time is more than worthwhile: The diverse inventory of the FWHB contains about 35 000 volumes - all of them are historic sources and time witnesses. Works of visual art, engravings, and busts from Early Modern Times till the Age of Enlightenment are located next to library catalogues, last wills, and personal notes. Single pages with dedications and marks of usage, travel literature or the range of languages are remarkable among others. This complexity and the context of the collection which crosses geographical and cultural borders establishes the FWHB as a promising object of modern cultural and scholarly research.

In close collaboration with institutions and experts from Germany and other countries, the DFG project, begun in April 2009 and approved so far for three years, will examine the Princely Waldeck Court Library (FWHB) as a space of culture and knowledge. The court library not only represents a complex cultural space, in which medieval traditions of knowledge and early modern empiricism fruitfully intersect and interact, but also constitutes a particularly stimulating cultural center throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries,

The Digital Library is under construction.
Thank you for your patience!

Scheduled start date: 1. September 2009