Abbey library of Saint Gall facts for kids
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| Location | St. Gallen |
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| Coordinates | 47°25′22″N 9°22′35″E / 47.4228°N 9.3764°E |
| Type | memory institution monastic library  |
| Heritage designation | class A Swiss cultural property of national significance |
| Member of | Kalliope |
| Country | Switzerland |
| Website | www |
The Abbey Library of St. Gallen (German: Stiftsbibliothek) is a very old and important library. It is located in St. Gallen, Switzerland. This library is part of a larger monastery complex. In 1983, the library and the Abbey of St Gall were named a World Heritage Site. This means they are special places that are important to everyone in the world. The library is one of the oldest monastery libraries anywhere.
Contents
History of the Library
The library was started by Saint Othmar. He was also the founder of the Abbey of St. Gall. A big fire happened in 937, and the Abbey was destroyed. But luckily, the library was saved!
The Library Building
The beautiful main hall of the library was built much later. It was designed by an architect named Peter Thumb. Construction happened between 1758 and 1767. The style of the building is called Rococo. It is known for being very fancy and decorative.
Above the entrance door, there is a special message in Greek. It says ΨΥΧΗΣ ΙΑΤΡΕΙΟΝ. This means "healing place for the soul." It suggests that reading and learning can help your mind and spirit.
What's Inside: The Collections
The Abbey Library has the oldest collection of books in Switzerland. It is also one of the most important monastery libraries in the world. The library holds almost 160,000 books! Most of these books can be used by the public.
Ancient Books and Manuscripts
The collection includes many very old books. There are 1,650 incunabula. These are books that were printed before the year 1500. Imagine how old those are!
Even older are the 2,100 manuscripts. These are books that were written by hand. They date back to the 8th century all the way to the 15th century. Some of these handwritten books are very special. They show amazing art and writing styles from different times.
These old books, called codices, are kept safe in glass cases. Each case has a carved cherub (a type of angel) on top. These cherubs give a hint about the books inside. For example, a case with astronomy books might have a cherub looking through a telescope. Books published before 1900 must be read in a special room.
One very famous manuscript kept here is the B version of the Nibelungenlied. This is an important epic poem from Germany.
Digital Library
To make these old treasures available to more people, a special online library was created. It is called Codices Electronici Sangallenses. This project has grown to include manuscripts from other libraries too. It is now known as e-codices. Today, you can view over 600 manuscripts from the Abbey Library of St. Gallen online.
Shep-en-Isis
The library is also home to something very unusual: the mummy of Shep-en-Isis. This ancient Egyptian mummy is a unique part of the collection.
See also
In Spanish: Biblioteca de la Abadía de San Gall para niños
