650 years of the Austrian National Library - Austria / II. Republic of Austria 2018 - 175 Euro Cent

A Treasure Trove of Knowledge Austrian Post AG is celebrating the 650th anniversary of the Austrian National Library by issuing a commemorative stamp featuring the famous Baroque State Hall. 1368 is considered the year in which the Austrian National Library was founded: it was in this year that the handwritten Gospels of John of Opava, written in gold lettering and richly illustrated, was completed. It comes from the book collection of the Habsburg Duke Albrecht III. His descendants added many more valuable pieces to the collection, thus forming the basis of today’s Austrian National Library as a repository of knowledge. The Austrian National Library in Vienna’s Hofburg sees itself as the central academic library for the Republic of Austria and as a service-oriented information and research centre and institute of documentation, culture and education. The library with its many reading rooms is open to all students, researchers or interested persons. Courtesy of its legacy from the Habsburg Court Library, the Austrian National Library has eight collections covering the fields pictures and graphics, manuscripts and rare books, maps, literature, music, papyri, planned languages and folk song, thereby playing an important role in preserving our world cultural heritage. State Hall and Museums The centrepiece of the Austrian National Library is undoubtedly the Baroque State Hall, which Emperor Charles VI had built during the 18th century by Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach and his son. The ceiling frescoes are the work of Daniel Gran. Particularly outstanding features are the statues of the Habsburg rulers and four impressive Venetian globes. The State Hall houses around 200,000 books from the years 1501-1850 and is home to Prince Eugene of Savoy’s collection. The Austrian National Library also includes museums such as the Literature Museum, the Globe Museum, the Papyrus Museum, the Esperanto Museum and the House of Austrian History, which will open in autumn 2018.