The Liberei,lat. liber für ‚Buch‘ bzw. libraria für ‚Büchersammlung‘, siehe „Liberei“ im Deutschen Wörterbuch von Jacob Grimm und Wilhelm Grimm. also called LibereyJohann Christoph Adelung: Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart. 2. Auflage. Johann Gottlob Immanuel Breitkopf und Compagnie, Leipzig 1793 (zeno.org [Retrieved 2022-01-24] Eintrag „-Ey“, 3. Ein Collectivum). or AndreanaHermann Herbst: Die Bibliothek der Andreaskirche zu Braunschweig. p. 335., in Braunschweig is considered the oldest freestanding library building north of the Alps.Cord Meckseper (Hrsg.): Stadt im Wandel. Kunst und Kultur des Bürgertums in Norddeutschland 1150–1650. Band 1, Stuttgart 1985, p. 580. It was built between 1412 and 1422 in Kröppelstraße in the Neustadt municipal area, just a few meters southeast of St. Andreas Church. Due to donations, among others from Johann Ember and especially Gerwin von Hameln, the library was known beyond the borders of the city and was considered one of the most important collections of books and manuscripts in northern Germany for more than 300 years until its dissolution in 1753.
The donation of 336 volumesHermann Herbst: Die Bibliothek der Andreaskirche zu Braunschweig. p. 306. by Gerwin von Hameln in 1495 marks both the high point and the turning point in the history of the library. After Gerwin's death, there were disputes between the city council and Gerwin's heirs for decades, so that the building and the book collection were permanently damaged by neglect and theft. Although contemporary scholars such as Johannes BugenhagenPaul Lehmann: Gerwin van Hameln und die Andreasbibliothek in Braunschweig. p. 571. in the 16th century or Hermann von der Hardt in the early 18th century pointed out both the importance of the Liberei as a source of knowledge and its endangered state, its decline could not be stopped. In 1753, the remaining holdings were transferred to a larger library. According to current research, 137 volumes from Gerwin's estate still survive.Richard Moderhack: Braunschweiger Stadtgeschichte, Braunschweig 1997, p. 73.
The chapel-like brick building measures only 5.50 meters × 5.14 meters in floor plan.Paul Jonas Meier, Karl Steinacker: Die Bau- und Kunstdenkmäler der Stadt Braunschweig. 2. Auflage. Braunschweig 1926, S. 30. The building was severely damaged during World War II and was not restored until 1963. The Liberei is the only evidence of medieval brick Gothic in the city and is also probably the oldest surviving building in Germany that was built exclusively as a library.Hermann Herbst: Die Bibliothek der Andreaskirche zu Braunschweig. p. 302. The building is now a listed monument.
History
Origin The origins of the library date back to the end of 1309. Shortly before, Master Jordanus, pastor of St. Andreas Church, had died and had left his collection of 18Herbst nennt 14 Titel, s. Hermann Herbst: Die Bibliothek der Andreaskirche zu Braunschweig. p. 306. manuscripts to his parish church in his will "for eternity". The library was founded in 1309.Paul Lehmann: Gerwin van Hameln und die Andreasbibliothek in Braunschweig. p. 567.
In the degeding book of the new town the titles were listed individually and noted in addition:
„Dit sint de boke, de mester Jordan, de pernere was to sunte Andreas, deme god gnedich si, heft ghegheven sine nakomelinghen unde eren cappellanen to erer nut to brukende. unde se scullen ewelike bliwen bi der parren. […]“
– Heinrich Nentwig: Das ältere Buchwesen in Braunschweig. p. 19
"These are the books which Master Jordan, who was parish priest at St. Andreas, to whom God be gracious, gave to his successors in office and their chaplains for their use. And they shall remain in the parish/diocese forever ... [...]"
The importance of this collection can be gauged from the fact that his successors, first and foremost Magister Bruno Luckemann as the immediate successor in office (1310-1336), had to sign a document vis-à-vis the dean of St. Blasiusstift as the holder of the patronage of St. Andreas Church, which not only listed the individual titles of the holdings, but also contained the obligation to keep them intact for the church and not to sell them under any circumstances. Finally, each successor had to deposit a bail for the library. The document signed by Magister Bruno on 18 May 1310, barely six months after the death of Jordanus, the founder of the library, contains the oldest listing of the holdings.
Magister Bruno Luckemann was followed by Ortghisus, who signed a similar document on 10 October 1336, and with it took over a stock of four more titles from the possession of his predecessor.Hermann Herbst: Die Bibliothek der Andreaskirche zu Braunschweig. p. 308. Ortghisus († 1358) was followed by Klaus von Solvede († around 1360) and Ludolf von Steinfurt († probably 1393), from whose time, however, no news about the library has survived. Steinfurt's successor was Johann Ember.
Foundation
Ember, who had been the pastor of St. Andreas Church since about 1399,Hermann Herbst: Die Bibliothek der Andreaskirche zu Braunschweig. p. 309. had a contract drawn up in 1412,Hermann Herbst: Die Bibliothek der Andreaskirche zu Braunschweig. p. 315. of which a draft has been preserved. In it, the construction of a separate building for the library of St. Andreas Church is mentioned for the first time:„De anno domini M0CCCC0XII0 / Ek her Johan Ember, regerer der parrekerken sante Andreas to Brunswyk, / hebbe to ghetekent und gegheven myner vorscreven kerken to brukinge des perners / und syner cappelane ychteswelke boke to blivende in eynem / huse, dat me noch buwen schal to ewyghen tyden, […] Wes / dar vorder to behof were to dem buwe des huses, dat wil ik, her Johan Ember, / eddir myne vormundere van mynem gude ghentzliken vulbryngen und utgheven, […]“
– Hermann Herbst: Die Bibliothek der Andreaskirche zu Braunschweig. pp. 314–315
"In the year of the Lord M0CCCC0XII0 / I, Mr. Johann Ember, the head of the parish church of St. Andreas at Brunswick, have assigned and given to my aforementioned church for the use of the priest and his chaplains some books [which] are to remain in a house which is still to be built for eternal endurance, [.... ] What is necessary beyond that for the building of the house, I, Mr. Johann Ember, or my abbots/administrators will bring to an end and pay from my property completely, [...]"
Johann Ember, a book lover and collectorHermann Herbst: Die Bibliothek der Andreaskirche zu Braunschweig. p. 318. of the late Middle Ages, thus wanted to donate the building and pay for its construction costs. In addition, he undertook to expand the library collection. Ember only demanded a contribution of ten marks from the church elders. Furthermore, the contract regulated the storage modalities of the works. Thus, each of the manuscripts was to be secured with a chain and stored on a lectern. The keys with which the volumes could be released from the chains were in the possession of the council of the new town and the church elders. This group of people was also contractually responsible for keeping an inventory of the library's holdings and for checking it several times a year. The key to the building itself was exclusively in the care of the respective parish priest of St. Andreas.
Ember expressly decreed that the books should be accessible not only to the clergy of the city but also to "all other venerable persons".Hermann Herbst: Die Bibliothek der Andreaskirche zu Braunschweig. p. 317. Furthermore, he stipulated that - apart from himself - no one was allowed to borrow or remove volumes. It was therefore a reference library. For himself, Ember claimed the right to borrow a maximum of two books at a time, with the church elders to be informed in advance. Finally, the document also contained two inventory lists with detailed descriptions, one of those manuscripts that had already been in the church library from time immemorial, the other of those that Johannes Ember had taken over from his predecessor Ludolf von Steinfurt, and finally a list of the holdings that he himself intended to bequeath to the Liberei. In it, he had not only indicated the individual volumes with the works they contained, but also described them in detail, for example, their external characteristics, such as binding material and markings and whether the pages were paper or parchment. Texts that did not have a clear title or author had been marked by Ember with an incipit.
In "return" for this generous endowment, it was contractually agreed that memorials would be held twice a year for Johann Ember and his parents in St. Andreas Church.Heinrich Nentwig: Das ältere Buchwesen in Braunschweig. Beitrag zur Geschichte der Stadtbibliothek. p. 22.
The "old people" of St. Andreas Church, i.e. the church council, contributed ten marks to the construction costs, while Ember undertook to pay the remaining amount. Around Pentecost 1413, the shell of the building was probably completed. However, it was not until the middle of 1422, ten years after construction began, that the roof was covered and the interior furnishings brought in. This considerable delay in completion was caused by the so-called Braunschweig Pfaffenkrieg.Hermann Herbst: Die Bibliothek der Andreaskirche zu Braunschweig. pp. 316f. Exactly when the construction work on the Liberei was completed can no longer be determined today.
After its completion, it was an early kind of "public library", thus making the Braunschweig Liberei one of the first libraries on German soil that could be used by the general public.Brigide Schwarz: Hannoveraner in Braunschweig. Die Karrieren von Johann Ember († 1423) und Hermann Pentel († nach 1463). p. 27. It housed the book collection of St. Andreas Church, which was already large at the time.
Building and library stock
On 25 September 1412 a contract between Ember, the Alterleute, and the Lüneburg master builder, Meister Heinrich, Werner's son, regulated in detail how the building was to look and what materials it was to be made of. Thus, the depth of the foundation, the building material (teygelsteyne = brick), the thickness of the walls, the number of windows and pillars, the type of vault and the construction of a stone staircase inside were determined. The date of completion had been agreed to be Pentecost 1413.
The Liberei was built in the style of the North German Brick Gothic. The building has a special significance, as it is the only medieval brick building in Braunschweig and at the same time belongs to the southernmost ones in the distribution area of the Brick Gothic.Wolfgang Kimpflinger: Denkmaltopographie Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Baudenkmale in Niedersachsen. Band 1.1.: Stadt Braunschweig. Teil 1, p. 181. Bricks were uncommon in the city at that time - in Braunschweig they mainly built timbered houses. Inside there were two rib-vaulted storey, which were separately accessible from the outside. The basement was partially built into the ground and had small double windows only on the east side.