The Vienna City and State Library , founded in 1856, is located in the city of Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

, capital of Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

. It is the official library of the City and State of Vienna and located at City Hall. It preserves 500,000 books, 2,000 newspapers and magazines, 300,000 posters, 500,000 autographs, notable bequests and legacies and one of the most important music collections of the world. Much of the collections can be retrieved online (user interface available in German and English). The library is part of the Magistrat der Stadt Wien (Municipality of Vienna) and supervised by the City Councillor for Culture.

Collections at present

The library holds collections of literature (Druckschriftensammlung), autographs (Handschriftensammlung), music (Musiksammlung), posters (Plakatsammlung) and a documentation.

Important authors have donated their manuscripts to this library. It is as well noteworthy for its collection of historic newspapers published in Vienna. The library holds the art database of the National Fund of the Republic of Austria for Victims of National Socialism

National Fund of the Republic of Austria for Victims of National Socialism

The National Fund of the Republic of Austria for Victims of National Socialism, , is a fund created by the Republic of Austria to seek to apply restitution for property confiscated by the Nazis during World War II...

.

In detail, the following material is collected:

• Books and brochures
• Newspapers and magazines (appr. 2,000 titles are subscribed today)
• Official publications by the City and State of Vienna, the federal ministries of Austria, the departments of the Municipality of Vienna, laws and ordinances of the Republic of Austria and the States of Vienna and Lower Austria, law of the European Union
• Printed and handwritten compositions, especially by Viennese composers
• Theatre programme leaflets and brochures (historic collection and present collecting)
• Autographs
• Bequests by authors, politicians, artists, scientists and musicians
• Obituaries
• posters, pamphlets, broadsheets

History

In 1856, the city parliament, led by Mayor Johann Kaspar Freiherr von Seiller, agreed on reinstalling a city library. In the beginning, it was accessible to officers of the city only. Therefore it consisted mainly of juridical literature and Viennensia. These guidelines are still valid today.

In 1889, shortly after the transfer from the old to the new city hall, the city parliament decided to separate the city archives from the library and to create an own archive department. At the same time, the library was merged with the Historical Museum of the City of Vienna to what was called City Collections (Städtische Sammlungen). Subsequently, the library developed from an office library to a scientific institution, which engaged in research and documentation of the history of Vienna.

Beginning in the second half of the 19th century, the City Collections encountered a massive enlargement by bequests and legacies by public, artistic and scientific personalities like Franz Grillparzer

Franz Grillparzer

Franz Seraphicus Grillparzer was an Austrian writer who is chiefly known for his dramas. He also wrote the oration for Ludwig van Beethoven's funeral.-Biography:...

, Ferdinand Raimund

Ferdinand Raimund

Ferdinand Raimund was an Austrian actor and dramatist.- Life and work :...

, Johann Nestroy

Johann Nestroy

Johann Nepomuk Eduard Ambrosius Nestroy was a singer, actor and playwright in the popular Austrian tradition of the Biedermeier period and its immediate aftermath...

, Karl Kraus

Karl Kraus

Karl Kraus was an Austrian writer and journalist, known as a satirist, essayist, aphorist, playwright and poet. He is regarded as one of the foremost German-language satirists of the 20th century, especially for his witty criticism of the press, German culture, and German and Austrian...

, and Helmut Qualtinger

Helmut Qualtinger

Helmut Qualtinger was an Austrian actor, writer and cabaret performer.-Biography:Helmut Qualtinger was born in Vienna, Austria...

. In 1905, the collections of autographs and music have been established as separate units of the department, from 1923 the poster collection and from 1930 the documentation as well were administered separately.

In 1939 the Wiener Stadtbibliothek and the museum were separated into new departments. In 1977, the name Wiener Stadt- und Landesbibliothek was chosen to reflect the constitutional position of Vienna as a city and a state of Austria. In 2001, 340 autographed music manuscripts by Franz Schubert

Franz Schubert

Franz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer.Although he died at an early age, Schubert was tremendously prolific. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies , liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music...

 and a nearly complete collection of first editions of his works, part of the music collection, were inscribed on UNESCO's

UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...

 Memory of the World Programme

Memory of the World Programme

UNESCO's Memory of the World Programme is an international initiative launched to safeguard the documentary heritage of humanity against collective amnesia, neglect, the ravages of time and climatic conditions, and willful and deliberate destruction...

Register in recognition of their historical significance. In 2006 the name Wienbibliothek im Rathaus replaced the former one.