1.
Czech Republic
–
The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, is a nation state in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west, Austria to the south, Slovakia to the east and Poland to the northeast. The Czech Republic covers an area of 78,866 square kilometres with mostly temperate continental climate and it is a unitary parliamentary republic, has 10.5 million inhabitants and the capital and largest city is Prague, with over 1.2 million residents. The Czech Republic includes the territories of Bohemia, Moravia. The Czech state was formed in the late 9th century as the Duchy of Bohemia under the Great Moravian Empire, after the fall of the Empire in 907, the centre of power transferred from Moravia to Bohemia under the Přemyslid dynasty. In 1002, the duchy was formally recognized as part of the Holy Roman Empire, becoming the Kingdom of Bohemia in 1198 and reaching its greatest territorial extent in the 14th century. Following the Battle of Mohács in 1526, the whole Crown of Bohemia was gradually integrated into the Habsburg Monarchy alongside the Archduchy of Austria, the Protestant Bohemian Revolt against the Catholic Habsburgs led to the Thirty Years War. After the Battle of the White Mountain, the Habsburgs consolidated their rule, reimposed Roman Catholicism, the Czech part of Czechoslovakia was occupied by Germany in World War II, and was liberated in 1945 by the armies of the Soviet Union and the United States. The Czech country lost the majority of its German-speaking inhabitants after they were expelled following the war, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia won the 1946 elections. Following the 1948 coup détat, Czechoslovakia became a one-party communist state under Soviet influence, in 1968, increasing dissatisfaction with the regime culminated in a reform movement known as the Prague Spring, which ended in a Soviet-led invasion. Czechoslovakia remained occupied until the 1989 Velvet Revolution, when the communist regime collapsed, on 6 March 1990, the Czech Socialistic Republic was renamed to the Czech Republic. On 1 January 1993, Czechoslovakia peacefully dissolved, with its constituent states becoming the independent states of the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic. The Czech Republic joined NATO in 1999 and the European Union in 2004, it is a member of the United Nations, the OECD, the OSCE, and it is a developed country with an advanced, high income economy and high living standards. The UNDP ranks the country 14th in inequality-adjusted human development, the Czech Republic also ranks as the 6th most peaceful country, while achieving strong performance in democratic governance. It has the lowest unemployment rate in the European Union, the traditional English name Bohemia derives from Latin Boiohaemum, which means home of the Boii. The current name comes from the endonym Čech, spelled Cžech until the reform in 1842. The name comes from the Slavic tribe and, according to legend, their leader Čech, the etymology of the word Čech can be traced back to the Proto-Slavic root *čel-, meaning member of the people, kinsman, thus making it cognate to the Czech word člověk. The country has traditionally divided into three lands, namely Bohemia in the west, Moravia in the southeast, and Czech Silesia in the northeast. Following the dissolution of Czechoslovakia at the end of 1992, the Czech part of the former nation found itself without a common single-word geographical name in English, the name Czechia /ˈtʃɛkiə/ was recommended by the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Czech Republic
–
Přemysl Ottokar II,
King of Bohemia (1253–1278) and
Duke of Austria (1251–1278)
Czech Republic
–
Flag
Czech Republic
–
The
Crown of Saint Wenceslas is the 4th oldest in Europe
Czech Republic
–
The
Defenestration of Prague sparked the
Thirty Years' War
2.
National library
–
A national library is a library specifically established by the government of a country to serve as the preeminent repository of information for that country. Unlike public libraries, these rarely allow citizens to borrow books, often, they include numerous rare, valuable, or significant works. A National Library is that library which has the duty of collecting and preserving the literature of the nation within, thus, National Libraries are those libraries whose community is the nation at large. Examples include The British Library, and The Bibliothèque Nationale In Paris, there are wider definitions of a national library, putting less emphasis to the repository character. National libraries are usually notable for their size, compared to that of other libraries in the same country. Some states which are not independent, but who wish to preserve their culture, have established a national library with all the attributes of such institutions. National libraries of Europe participate in The European Library and this is a service of The Conference of European National Librarians. The first national libraries had their origins in the collections of the sovereign or some other supreme body of the state. In England, Sir Richard Bentleys Proposal for Building a Royal Library published in 1694 stimulated renewed interest in the subject. Sir Robert Cotton, 1st Baronet, of Connington, an antiquarian, amassed the richest private collection of manuscripts in the world at the time. Sir Roberts genius was in finding, purchasing and preserving these ancient documents, after his death his grandson donated the library to the nation as its first national library. This transfer established the formation of the British Library, the first true national library was founded in 1753 as part of the British Museum. This new institution was the first of a new kind of museum – national, belonging to neither church nor king, freely open to the public, sloanes collection included some 40,000 printed books and 7,000 manuscripts, as well as prints and drawings. The British Museum Act 1753 also incorporated the Cotton library and the Harleian library and these were joined in 1757 by the Royal Library, assembled by various British monarchs. Anthony Panizzi became the Principal Librarian at the British Museum in 1856, during his tenure, the Librarys holdings increased from 235,000 to 540,000 volumes, making it the largest library in the world at the time. Its famous circular Reading Room was opened in 1857, Panizzi undertook the creation of a new catalogue, based on the Ninety-One Cataloguing Rules which he devised with his assistants. These rules served as the basis for all subsequent catalogue rules of the 19th and 20th centuries, in France, the first national library was the Bibliothèque Mazarine, which evolved from its origin as a royal library founded at the Louvre Palace by Charles V in 1368. At the death of Charles VI, this first collection was bought by the English regent of France, the Duke of Bedford
National library
–
National Library of Spain in Madrid, founded 1712
National library
–
Italian
National Central Library in Florence
National library
–
The
National Library of China is the largest library in Asia
National library
–
The
Lindisfarne Gospels is but one of the treasures collected by
Sir Robert Cotton.
3.
Clementinum
–
The Clementinum is a historic complex of buildings in Prague. Until recently the complex hosted the National, University and Technical libraries, the Technical library and the Municipal library have moved to the Prague National Technical Library at Technická6 since 2009. It is currently in use as the National Library of the Czech Republic, in 2005, the Czech National Library received the UNESCO Jikji prize. Its history dates from the existence of a dedicated to Saint Clement in the 11th century. A Dominican monastery was founded in the period, which was transformed in 1556 to a Jesuit college. In 1622 the Jesuits transferred the library of Charles University to the Klementinum, the Jesuits remained until 1773, when the Klementinum was established as an observatory, library, and university by the Empress Maria Theresa of Austria. The National Library was founded in 1781 and from 1782 the Clementinum was a deposit library. In 1918 the newly established Czecho-Slovak state took over the library, since 1990, it has been the National Library. It contains a collection of Mozartiana, material pertaining to Tycho Brahe and Comenius, the architecture is a notable example of Baroque architecture and Clementinum, covering 20,000 square metres, is the second largest complex of buildings in Prague after the Prague Castle. On Jan 10,2006, the Prague authorities decided to sell the property located in the area of Letná near the Prague center. In Spring 2006, an architectural design competition for the new building was put up. An architect who won the competition is Jan Kaplický, but his winning was infirmed, at one time the Clementinum was known as the third largest Jesuit college in the world. The oldest weather recording in the area of the Czech lands started in Clementinum in the year 1775, the recording continues through the present day. The Clementinum is mentioned in The Secret Miracle by Jorge Luis Borges, the main character has a dream of the library of Clementinum where the librarians look for God in the books of the library. One of the librarians says, God is in one of the letters of one of the pages of one of the four hundred books of Clementinum. My fathers and the fathers of my fathers have looked for this letter, so, a reader enters and delivers an atlas for the main character, saying that this atlas is useless. The main character opens the book at random, and find a map of India, touching one of its letters and, then. The Baroque library hall inside Clementinum is known for its beautiful interior, list of early modern universities in Europe Strahov Monastery National Library of the Czech Republic The History of Clementinum
Clementinum
–
East entrance of the Clementinum
Clementinum
–
View of Prague from Clementinum
Clementinum
–
Baroque library hall
Clementinum
–
Entrance to the building from Křižovnická street.
4.
Prague
–
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. It is the 14th largest city in the European Union and it is also the historical capital of Bohemia. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city has a temperate climate, with warm summers and chilly winters. Prague has been a political, cultural, and economic centre of central Europe with waxing and waning fortunes during its history and it was an important city to the Habsburg Monarchy and its Austro-Hungarian Empire. Prague is home to a number of cultural attractions, many of which survived the violence. Main attractions include the Prague Castle, the Charles Bridge, Old Town Square with the Prague astronomical clock, since 1992, the extensive historic centre of Prague has been included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. The city has more than ten major museums, along with theatres, galleries, cinemas. An extensive modern public transportation system connects the city, also, it is home to a wide range of public and private schools, including Charles University in Prague, the oldest university in Central Europe. Prague is classified as an Alpha- global city according to GaWC studies, Prague ranked sixth in the Tripadvisor world list of best destinations in 2016. Its rich history makes it a popular tourist destination, and the city more than 6.4 million international visitors annually. Prague is the fifth most visited European city after London, Paris, Istanbul, the region was settled as early as the Paleolithic age. In the last century BC, the Celts were slowly driven away by Germanic tribes, around the area where present-day Prague stands, the 2nd century map of Ptolemaios mentioned a Germanic city called Casurgis. In the following century, the Czech tribes built several fortified settlements in the area, most notably in Levý Hradec, Butovice and in the Šárka valley. The construction of what came to be known as the Prague Castle began near the end of the 9th century, the first masonry under Prague Castle dates from the year 885 at the latest. The other prominent Prague fort, the Přemyslid fort Vyšehrad, was founded in the 10th century, Prague Castle is dominated by the cathedral, which was founded in 1344, but completed in the 20th century. The legendary origins of Prague attribute its foundation to the 8th century Czech duchess and prophetess Libuše and her husband, Přemysl, legend says that Libuše came out on a rocky cliff high above the Vltava and prophesied, I see a great city whose glory will touch the stars. She ordered a castle and a town called Praha to be built on the site, a 17th century Jewish chronicler David Solomon Ganz, citing Cyriacus Spangenberg, claimed that the city was founded as Boihaem in c.1306 BC by an ancient king, Boyya. The region became the seat of the dukes, and later kings of Bohemia, under Roman Emperor Otto II the area became a bishopric in 973
Prague
–
Montage of Prague, clockwise from top: Panorama of
Prague Castle and
Charles Bridge,
Dancing House,
Star Villa,
Old Town Square,
Wenceslas Square,
Wallenstein Palace, Royal Garden at Prague Castle,
St. Vitus Cathedral and
Municipal House.
Prague
–
The mythological princess
Libuše prophesies the glory of Prague.
Prague
–
The
Prague astronomical clock was first installed in 1410, making it the third-oldest astronomical clock in the world and the oldest one still working.
Prague
–
A view of one of the bridge towers of the Charles Bridge
5.
Geographic coordinate system
–
A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
Geographic coordinate system
–
Longitude lines are perpendicular and latitude lines are parallel to the equator.
6.
Czech language
–
Czech, historically also Bohemian, is a West Slavic language of the Czech–Slovak group. It is spoken by over 10 million people and is the language of the Czech Republic. Czech is closely related to Slovak, to the point of being intelligible to a very high degree. In the later 18th to mid-19th century, the written standard was codified in the context of the Czech National Revival. The main vernacular, known as Common Czech, is based on the vernacular of Prague, the Moravian dialects spoken in the eastern part of the country are mostly also counted as Czech, although some of their eastern variants are closer to Slovak. The Czech phoneme inventory is moderate in size, comprising five vowels, words may contain uncommon consonant clusters, including one consonant represented by the grapheme ř, or lack vowels altogether. Czech orthography is simple, and has used as a model by phonologists. Czech is classified as a member of the West Slavic sub-branch of the Slavic branch of the Indo-European language family and this branch includes Polish, Kashubian, Upper and Lower Sorbian and Slovak. Slovak is by far the closest genetic neighbor of Czech, the West Slavic languages are spoken in an area classified as part of Central Europe. Around the 7th century, the Slavic expansion reached Central Europe, the West Slavic polity of Great Moravia formed by the 9th century. The Christianization of Bohemia took place during the 9th and 10th centuries, the Bohemian language is first recorded in writing in glosses and short notes during the 12th to 13th centuries. Literary works written in Czech appear in the early 14th century, the first complete Bible translation also dates to this period. Old Czech texts, including poetry and cookbooks, were produced outside the university as well, literary activity becomes widespread in the early 15th century in the context of the Bohemian Reformation. There was no standardization distinguishing between Czech and Slovak prior to the 15th century, the publication of the Kralice Bible between 1579 and 1593 became very important for standardization of the Czech language in the following centuries. In 1615, the Bohemian diet tried to declare Czech to be the official language of the kingdom. After the Bohemian Revolt which was defeated by the Habsburgs in 1620 and this emigration together with other consequences of the Thirty Years War had a negative impact on the further use of the Czech language. In 1627, Czech and German became official languages of the Kingdom of Bohemia and in the 18th century German became dominant in Bohemia and Moravia, the modern standard Czech language originates in standardization efforts of the 18th century. Changes include the shift of í to ej and é to í and the merging of í
Czech language
–
The
Bible of Kralice was the first complete
translation of the Bible into the Czech language. Its six volumes were first published between 1579 and 1593.
Czech language
–
regions where Czech is the language of the majority
Czech language
–
Jan Hus
Czech language
–
Josef Dobrovský, whose writing played a key role in reviving Czech as a written language
7.
Charles University in Prague
–
Charles University, known also as Charles University in Prague or historically as the University of Prague, is the oldest and largest university in the Czech Republic. Founded in 1348, it was the first university in Central Europe and it is one of the oldest universities in Europe in continuous operation and ranks in the upper 1.5 percent of the world’s best universities. Its seal shows its protector Emperor Charles IV, with his coats of arms as King of the Romans and King of Bohemia, kneeling in front of St. Wenceslas and it is surrounded by the inscription, Sigillum Universitatis Scolarium Studii Pragensis. The establishment of a university in Prague was inspired by Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV. He asked his friend and ally, Pope Clement VI, to do so, on 26 January 1347 the pope issued the bull establishing a university in Prague, modeled on the University of Paris, with the full number of faculties, that is including theological. This was caused by a shift in the 19th century. The university was opened in 1349, the university was sectioned into parts called nations, the Bohemian, Bavarian, Polish and Saxon. Ethnically Czech students made 16–20% of all students, archbishop Arnošt of Pardubice took an active part in the foundation by obliging the clergy to contribute and became a chancellor of the university. The first graduate was promoted in 1359, the lectures were held in the colleges, of which the oldest was named for the king the Carolinum, established in 1366. In 1372 the Faculty of Law became an independent university, in 1402 Jerome of Prague in Oxford copied out the Dialogus and Trialogus of John Wycliffe. The dean of the faculty, Jan Hus, translated Trialogus into the Czech language. In 1403 the university forbade its members to follow the teachings of Wycliffe, in the Western Schism, the Bohemian natio took the side of king Wenceslaus and supported the Council of Pisa. The other nationes of the university declared their support for the side of Pope Gregory XII, Hus and other Bohemians, though, took advantage of Wenceslaus opposition to Gregory. By the Decree of Kutná Hora on 18 January 1409, the king subverted the university constitution by granting the Bohemian masters three votes, only a single vote was left for all other three nationes combined, compared to one vote per each natio before. The result of this coup was the emigration of foreign professors and students, in the autumn of 1409, Hus was elected rector of the now Czech-dominated rump university. Thus, the Prague university lost the largest part of its students, from then on the university declined to a merely regional institution with a very low status. Soon, in 1419, the faculties of theology and law disappeared, the faculty of arts became a centre of the Hussite movement, and the chief doctrinal authority of the Utraquists. No degrees were given in the years 1417–30, at times there were eight or nine professors
Charles University in Prague
–
Monument to the
protector of the university,
Emperor Charles IV in
Prague (built in 1848)
Charles University in Prague
–
Charles University in Prague
Charles University in Prague
–
Carolinum – the oldest building of Charles University built in the 14th century
Charles University in Prague
–
Baroque library hall in Clementinum, which originally belonged to the university, today part of
Czech National Library
8.
Memory of the World Programme
–
This recorded memory reflects the diversity of languages, people, and cultures. UNESCO, the agency responsible for the protection of the worlds cultural and natural heritage. To this end, the Memory of the World Programme was established with the aim of preserving and digitizing humanitys documentary heritage, the program is administered by the International Advisory Committee, whose 14 members are appointed by the UNESCO Director-General. The IAC is responsible for the formulation of policies, including the technical, legal and financial framework for the program. Technical Sub-Committee, Develops, regularly revises and promulgates information guides on the preservation of documentary heritage, the Memory of the World Register is a compendium of documents, manuscripts, oral traditions, audio-visual materials, library, and archival holdings of universal value. The program also has the goal of using state-of-the-art technologies to provide wider accessibility, any organization or individual can nominate a documentary item for inscription on the Register. During its meetings, the IAC examines the full documentation of the description, origin, world significance. The body uses a set of criteria in examining each of the nominations, Time, Absolute age, of itself, does not make a document significant, but every document is a creature of its time. Some documents are especially evocative of their time, which may have one of crisis. A document may represent new discovery or be the first of its kind, place, The place of its creation is a key attribute of its importance. It may be descriptive of physical environments, cities or institutions since vanished, people, The social and cultural context of its creation may reflect significant aspects of human behaviour, or of social, industrial, artistic or political development. It may capture the essence of great movements, transitions, advances or regression and it may reflect the impact of key individuals or groups. Subject and Theme, The subject matter may represent particular historical or intellectual developments in natural, social and human sciences, politics, ideology, sports and the arts. Social/Spiritual/Community Significance, This concept is another way of expressing the significance of a document or set of documents in terms of its spiritual or sacred values. It allows a community to demonstrate its emotional attachment to the document or documents for the way in which these contribute to that communitys identity. Application of this criterion must reflect living significance – the documentary heritage must have a hold on people who are alive today. Other matters that will also be taken into account for each nomination are, Rarity, integrity, Within the natural physical limitations of carrier survival, is it complete or partial. Has it been altered or damaged, threat, Is its survival in danger
Memory of the World Programme
–
The
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen was used to disseminate to the political community the first-ever
French Constitution.
Memory of the World Programme
–
Logo of the Memory of the World Programme
Memory of the World Programme
–
The Jikji is the earliest known book printed with
movable metal type in 1377.
9.
Codex Vyssegradensis
–
Its extremely rich iconography and its visual components rank it among the most precious illuminated manuscripts of the second half of the 11th century in Europe. It was probably made at the order of Czech diplomats to honour an anniversary of the Czech King Vratislavs coronation which took place in 1085. The codex is of Danubian provenance, and closely related to three surviving manuscripts – two of them now in Poland and one in the Prague Chapter Library. They probably originated in the circle of the scriptorium at the Monastery of St. Emmeram in Regensburg, the manuscript is now located in the Czech National Library, Prague under the signature XIV A13. In 2005 it was declared as a National cultural monument of the Czech Republic, the earliest known representation of the Tree of Jesse is in the book. In a paper analysing this image, J. A, the page showing the Jesse Tree is accompanied by a number of other illuminated pages of which four depict the Ancestors of Christ. The Jesse Tree has not been used to support a number of figures, instead, the passage from Isaiah has been depicted in a very literal way. Instead of the ancestors seen in depictions, seven doves perch in the branches. These, in a motif from Byzantine art, represent the Seven gifts of the Holy Spirit as described by the Apostle Paul, williams go on to compare it with two other famous images, theTree of Jesse window at Chartres Cathedral and the Lambeth Bible in England. Media related to Codex Vyssegradensis at Wikimedia Commons
Codex Vyssegradensis
–
St. Wenceslaus in the
initial. The new
Bohemian monarchy uses the crowning haloed
Hand of God in the Coronation Gospels of Vratislav II
10.
Refectory
–
A refectory is a dining room, especially in monasteries, boarding schools, and academic institutions. One of the places the term is most often used today is in graduate seminaries and it derives from the Latin reficere to remake or restore, via Late Latin refectorium, which means a place one goes to be restored. Communal meals are the times when all monks of an institution are together, diet and eating habits differ somewhat by monastic order, and more widely by schedule. The Rule of St Benedict orders two meals, dinner is provided for year-round, supper is also served from late spring to early fall, except for Wednesdays and Fridays. The diet originally consisted of simple fare, two dishes, with fruit as a course if available. The food was simple, with the meat of mammals forbidden to all, moderation in all aspects of diet is the spirit of Benedicts law. Meals are eaten in silence, facilitated sometimes by hand signals, a single monk might read from the Scriptures or writings of the saints aloud during the meals. Refectories vary in size and dimension, based primarily on wealth and size of the monastery, monks eat at long benches, important officials sit at raised benches at one end of the hall. A lavabo, or large basin for hand-washing usually stands outside the refectory, in England, the refectory is generally built on an undercroft on the side of the cloister opposite the church. Benedictine models are generally laid out on an east–west axis. Norman refectories could be as large as 160 feet long by 35 feet wide, even relatively early refectories might have windows, but these became larger and more elaborate in the high medieval period. The refectory at Cluny Abbey was lit through thirty-six large glazed windows, the twelfth-century abbey at Mont Saint-Michel had six windows, five feet wide by twenty feet high. In Eastern Orthodox monasteries, the Trapeza is considered a sacred place, some services are intended to be performed specifically in the Trapeza. There is always at least one Icon with a lampada kept burning in front of it, the service of the Lifting of the Panagia is performed at the end of meals. During Bright Week, this service is replaced with the Lifting of the Artos, in some monasteries, the Ceremony of Forgiveness at the beginning of Great Lent is performed in the Trapeza. All food served in the Trapeza should be blessed, and for that purpose and this usage is particularly prevalent in Church of England buildings, which use the takings to supplement their income. Many universities in the UK also call their student cafeteria or dining facilities the refectory, the term is rare at American colleges, although Brown University calls its main dining hall the Sharpe Refectory. Refectory table Adams, Henry, Mont Saint-Michel and Chartres, living and Dying in England, 1100-1450
Refectory
–
The refectory of the
Convent of Christ,
Tomar, Portugal.
Refectory
–
Summer Refectory in the
Grand Masters ' Palace,
Malbork Castle.
Refectory
–
Trapeza (refectory church) at
Kiev Pechersk Lavra.
11.
Generali Arena
–
The Generali Arena is a football stadium in Prague. It is the venue of Sparta Prague and often the home stadium of the Czech Republic national football team. It has capacity for 19,416 people, the first wooden stadium at its location opened in 1921, in 1930 it hosted the third Womens World Games. The stadium burned in 1934 and a new reinforced concrete grandstand was built in 1937. In 1969 all the other grandstands were replaced by reinforced concrete ones, the 1994 reconstruction into its present form saw Letná closed for nine months, till the stadium met all international standards. The running track was removed and all places were now seated. Letná has frequently hosted international matches, in October 1989 the venue saw a crowd of 34,000 watch home side Czechoslovakia defeat Switzerland in a match for the 1990 FIFA World Cup. The playing surface was renovated in 2001, including the installation of a new heating and watering system. This necessitated Sparta playing league matches at the end of the 2000–01 season at the nearby Stadion Evžena Rošického and it was, at the time, the biggest fine ever handed out by UEFA to a club for racist chanting. During the Velvet revolution in 1989 there were some 800,000 people assembled here for various anti-government demonstrations, the stadium is served by the tram stop Sparta, called at by services 1,8,12,25 and 26. The nearest metro stations are Hradčanská to the west and Vltavská to the east, Generali Arena at the official AC Sparta Prague website Photo gallery and data at Erlebnis-stadion. de
Generali Arena
–
GENERALI Arena
Generali Arena
–
Interior of the Generali Arena at the start of a game, Nov 2002
12.
European Commission
–
Commissioners swear an oath at the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg, pledging to respect the treaties and to be completely independent in carrying out their duties during their mandate. The Commission operates as a government, with 28 members of the Commission. There is one member per state, but members are bound by their oath of office to represent the general interest of the EU as a whole rather than their home state. One of the 28 is the Commission President proposed by the European Council, the current Commission is the Juncker Commission, which took office in late 2014. The procedural languages of the Commission are English, French and German, the Members of the Commission and their cabinets are based in the Berlaymont building in Brussels. The first Commission originated in 1951 as the nine-member High Authority under President Jean Monnet, the High Authority was the supranational administrative executive of the new European Coal and Steel Community. It took office first on 10 August 1952 in Luxembourg, in 1958 the Treaties of Rome had established two new communities alongside the ECSC, the European Economic Community and the European Atomic Energy Community. However their executives were called Commissions rather than High Authorities, the reason for the change in name was the new relationship between the executives and the Council. Some states such as France expressed reservations over the power of the High Authority, louis Armand led the first Commission of Euratom. Walter Hallstein led the first Commission of the EEC, holding the first formal meeting on 16 January 1958 at the Château of Val-Duchesse, Hallstein notably began the consolidation of European law and started to have a notable impact on national legislation. The three bodies, collectively named the European Executives, co-existed until 1 July 1967 when, under the Merger Treaty, the Rey Commission completed the Communitys customs union in 1968 and campaigned for a more powerful, elected, European Parliament. Despite Rey being the first President of the communities, Hallstein is seen as the first President of the modern Commission. The Malfatti and Mansholt Commissions followed with work on monetary co-operation, with that enlargement the Commissions membership increased to thirteen under the Ortoli Commission, which dealt with the enlarged community during economic and international instability at that time. Following the Jenkins Commission, Gaston Thorns Commission oversaw the Communitys enlargement to the south, the Commission headed by Jacques Delors was seen as giving the Community a sense of direction and dynamism. Delors and his team are considered as the founding fathers of the euro. The International Herald Tribune noted the work of Delors at the end of his term in 1992. He arrived when Europessimism was at its worst, although he was a little-known former French finance minister, he breathed life and hope into the EC and into the dispirited Brussels Commission. The successor to Delors was Jacques Santer, the entire Santer Commission was forced to resign in 1999 by the Parliament as result of a fraud and corruption scandal, with a central role played by Édith Cresson
European Commission
–
President
Delors, one of the most notable presidents in the Commission's history
European Commission
–
European Commission
European Commission
–
Incumbent
President Juncker
European Commission
–
Floor 13 of the Berlaymont, Commission's meeting room
13.
2002 European floods
–
The flood was of a magnitude expected to occur roughly once a century. Flooding resulted from the passage of two Genoa low pressure systems which brought warm moist air from the Mediterranean northwards, the effects of El Niño are believed to have possibly contributed although others disagree. The floods started with heavy rainfall in the Eastern Alps, which resulted in floods in Northern Italy, Bavaria and the Austrian states of Salzburg and Upper Austria. The floods gradually moved eastwards along the Danube, although the damage in the cities on its shores was not as severe as in the areas affected by the floods later. Rivers changed their courses in unexpected ways, catching residents off guard, several villages in Northern Bohemia, Thuringia and Saxony were more or less destroyed by rivers changing their courses or massively overflowing their banks. The floods that hit Europe during August 2002 were part of a system that was also affecting Asia. Within Europe, however, the areas that sustained significant damage included the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Italy, Spain, Germany, Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, several rivers in the region, including the Vltava, Elbe and Danube reached record highs. Prague received significant damage from what were deemed to be the worst floods ever to hit the capital, the flow of Vltava culminated at 5300 m³/s, 20% more than during the flood of 1845. Among the regions of the city most severely affected were, Karlín, Kampa and Holešovice. Most of Pragues art work was saved due to warning of high water levels, however there was significant damage to the Prague Metro subway system. The evacuations before the worst of the flooding have been cited as one of the reasons for relatively little loss of life in the capital, an estimated 40,000 people were evacuated from Prague. One of the most visible victims of the flood was Gaston. For some time, it was believed he would survive, however he died following capture in Dresden, in total,17 people lost their lives in the Czech Republic due to the floods, and damage from the flood was estimated at between 70 and 73 billion CZK. In Germany, the 10 years of work that had been carried out since reunification in 1990 in the town of Grimma. Dresden received significant damage when the Elbe River reached a high of 9.4 meters. More than 30,000 people were evacuated from various neighborhoods throughout the city, dresdens Zwinger Palace, home to a significant number of Europes artistic treasures including Raphaels Sistine Madonna was at risk from the flooding Elbe, however all of the art works could be saved. The Semper Opera House also suffered damage, the Black Sea Coast region was among the most severely hit regions of Russia with significant loss of life due to a tornado that hit the tourist region and destroyed homes. This was after earlier summer floods in southern Russia, all told, damage in the region was calculated at more than $400 million
2002 European floods
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Flooded Elbe in
Dresden August 2002
2002 European floods
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Flooding in
Budapest.
2002 European floods
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Flood damage in the Karlin district of
Prague.
14.
List of national and state libraries
–
A national library is specifically established by the government of a nation to serve as the pre-eminent repository of information for that country. Unlike public libraries, they rarely allow citizens to borrow books, often, they include numerous rare, valuable, or significant works, such as the Gutenberg Bible. National libraries are usually notable for their size, compared to that of other libraries in the same country, some national libraries may be thematic or specialized in some specific domains, beside or in replacement of the main national library. National libraries of Europe participate in The European Library and this is a service of The Conference of European National Librarians. The list below is organized alphabetically by country, according to the list of states, including. A ♦ indicates a national library of a constituent country or dependent state and it is listed under the sovereign state which governs that entity. Sovereign states are listed even when they have no library or when the existence. Other states, constituent countries and dependent states are listed if they have a national library. A state library is established by a state to serve as the preeminent repository of information for that region, international Federation of Library Associations and Institutions. National Libraries of the World, Address List, international Federation of Library Associations and Institutions. Archived from the original on 2008-12-18, note, the IFLA now links to the Wikipedia list above instead of maintaining its own list, see also the Annual Report 2009 of the National Libraries Section
List of national and state libraries
–
United States Library of Congress, Jefferson Building
15.
International Standard Book Number
–
The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
International Standard Book Number
–
A 13-digit ISBN, 978-3-16-148410-0, as represented by an
EAN-13 bar code
16.
National Library of Albania
–
The National Library of Albania is an Albanian national library headquartered in the capital, Tirana. It was founded in 1920 and inaugurated on December 10,1922, the National Library of Albania is the primary national cultural institution and the oldest in the Albanian State. The NLA occupies two buildings and is organized and functions under the authority of the Ministry of Tourism, Culture, Youth and its archive comprises a total of 1,169.767 books, periodicals, maps, atlases, microfilms and other library materials. The special collections are valuable for national as well as European culture, the library is open 72 hours a week to anyone over 16 years old. Users can borrow library materials or use them in the reading rooms, the librarys website enables the users to search a directory as well as services, such as the OPAC, digitized catalogues, and the digital collections. The NLA organizes exhibitions, book promotions, conferences and so on, as a legal deposit institution the NLA publishes the National Bibliography. For the national library network it publishes the scientific-cultural review Bibliothecae, textbooks, professional guides and it is a member of IFLA, LIBER, CENL, CDNL, The European Library and has been invited officially to become a partner in the World Digital Library
National Library of Albania
17.
National Library of Andorra
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The Andorra National Library was §founded in 1930, then re-opened in 1974. It is housed in Casa Bauró, an old house in the Andorran capital. Amongst other functions, it is the deposit and copyright library for Andorra. The Andorra National Library was created on September 8,1930 with the aim of providing book lending services to the people of the valleys of Andorra and it was initially housed in the hall of lost steps in the Casa de la Vall. The new library was established in 1974, in 1986, after being housed in various locations, the library moved to a building called Prada Casadet. Although this building housed both the National Library and the Public Library of the Government of Andorra at the time, in 1996, with the collections having grown considerably, it was decided to restructure and separate the services. The National Library of Andorra was therefore relocated to a building called Casa Bauró whilst the rest of the remained at Prada Casadet. In addition to its roles, the Andorra National Library has acted as the national ISBN agency for Andorra since 1987
National Library of Andorra
–
Andorra National Library building
18.
National Library of Armenia
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The National Library of Armenia is a national public library in Yerevan, Armenia. It was founded in 1832 as part of the state gymnasium-school of Yerevan and it is the official cultural deposit for the entire republic. The current building of the library dating back to 1939, is on Teryan street of Kentron district and it was designed by architect Alexander Tamanyan to house around seven million books. Between 1925 and 1990, the library was named after Aleksandr Myasnikyan, currently, the library is home to a collection of 6.6 million books. The oldest printed book in the library is Urbatagirk, published in Venice,1512, the oldest map in the library dates back to 1695, published in Amsterdam. The oldest newspaper in the library is Azdarar, published in Madras,1794, matenadaran Official Website of the National Library of Armenia
National Library of Armenia
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The main entrance to the building
National Library of Armenia
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Historic and other landmarks
19.
National Library of Austria
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The Austrian National Library is the largest library in Austria, with 7.4 million items in its various collections. The library is located in the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, since 2005, some of the collections have been relocated within the baroque structure of the Palais Mollard-Clary. Founded by the Habsburgs, the library was called the Hof-Bibliothek. The library complex includes four museums, as well as special collections. The institution has its origin in the library of the Middle Ages. During the Medieval period, the Austrian Duke Albert III shifted the books of the Viennese vaults into a library, Albert also organized important works from Latin to be translated into German. In the Hofburg, the treasure of Archduke Albert III had been kept in sacristies inside the tower of the imperial chapel. The Archduke was a connoisseur of art, he supported the University of Vienna, and he founded a royal workshop for illustrating manuscripts. On scenes depicting the lives of the four Evangelists, four coats of arms show the House of Austria, Tirol, Styria, and Carinthia, frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor, had the goal of summarizing the art treasures among the Habsburg possessions. Among other things, he brought some valuable books into the Vienna, among them the Prager Wenzelsbibel and the document of the golden bull. Through his marriage with Mary of Burgundy, Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor came into the possession of important books from Burgundy and north France, with a value at that time estimated at 100,000 guldens, these books represented about an eighth of Marys dowry. Also Maximilians second wife, Bianca Maria Sforza, brought into the marriage as dowry, among other things, the books of the library, at that time, were kept partially in Wiener Neustadt, partially in Vienna, and partially in Innsbruck. After the death of Maximilian, the books were sent into the palace at Innsbruck, besides the valuable books from the public treasury, the Bibliotheca Regia during the 16th century, which collected and categorized scientific works, developed in Vienna. Besides books, that also contained globes and atlases. The library had expanded, in the course of the time, as the first head librarian, Hugo Blotius was appointed in 1575 by Emperor Maximilian II. His most important task was drawing up the inventory of the library, as a consequence, new works were added systematically, and other libraries were incorporated. For the first time on 26 August 1624, the delivery was regulated by obligation copies to the library, the Imperial Library also grew by purchases. Particularly, the library of Philipp Eduard Fugger led to a major expansion, from the Fugger library, the library currently has about 17,000 sheets of one of the first periodic printing elements, the Fugger newspapers
National Library of Austria
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Austrian National Library entrance at Heldenplatz
National Library of Austria
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Austrian National Library old entrance at Josefsplatz
National Library of Austria
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View of the imperial library at Josephsplatz (1835)
National Library of Austria
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The Prunksaal, center of the old imperial library
20.
National Library of Azerbaijan
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The Mirza Fatali Akhundov National Library of Azerbaijan is a central state library of Azerbaijan, located in Baku and founded in 1922. It is named after Mirza Fatali Akhundov, an Azerbaijani dramatist, the library overlooks the Khagani Street, Rashid Behbudov Avenue and the Nizami Street. Its facades feature the statues of writers and poets, Nizami Ganjavi, Mahsati, Uzeyir Hajibeyov, Shota Rustaveli, Alexander Pushkin. A vast, eight-stage repository occupies the four floors of the building and is equipped with special elevators, the capacity of reading rooms is 500 seats. Orders are also accepted by e-mail upon electronic registration, founded in 1922, the library moved to its current location on May 23,1923. The building was designed by Azerbaijani architect Mikayil Huseynov and it was initially known as the General Library and State Book Storage of Azerbaijan. On July 11,1939 the library gained its present name, in 1962, the library was finally granted permission to create exchange ties with the Bibliothèque nationale de France. In 2005, in accordance with the decree issued by the Cabinet of Azerbaijan, in 2005, it joined the Conference of European National Librarians. Today, the building houses books, printed materials, newspapers, maps, dissertations and records and it receives four copies of every new book and two copies of every magazine and newspaper published in Azerbaijan. The library, the one of its kind, has microfilm. Official website UN System Depository Libraries profile
National Library of Azerbaijan
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Main entrance and building of the library
21.
National Library of Belarus
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The National Library of Belarus, founded on 15 September 1922, is a copyright library of the Republic of Belarus. It houses the largest collection of Belarusian printed materials and the third largest collection of books in Russian behind the Russian State Library and it is now located in a new 72-metre high building in Minsk, Belarus. The building has 22 floors and was completed in January 2006, the building can seat about 2,000 readers and features a 500-seat conference hall. Its main architectural component has the shape of a rhombicuboctahedron, the librarys new building was designed by architects Mihail Vinogradov and Viktor Kramarenko and opened on 16 June 2006. The National Library of Belarus is the information and cultural centre of the country. Its depository collections include 8 million items of various media, in 1993 the National Library of Belarus started to create its own electronic information resources. It has generated a collection of bibliographic, factual graphic, full-text, graphic, sound, the scope of databases is quite wide, humanities, social sciences, history, art and culture of Belarus. Library users also have access to databases of other libraries and academic institutions, the library service is in great demand. More than 90 thousand citizens of Belarus are library users, who annually request 3.5 million documents, every day the library is visited by more than 2,200 people. The library delivers about 12,000 documents daily, in addition to serving as a functional library, the National Library is a city attraction. It is situated in a park on a bank and has an observation deck looking over Minsk. As of 2009 it is the structure in Minsk with a public observation deck. The area in front of the library is used for public concerts. The building is also the subject of an art video by French artist Raphael Zarka, Rhombus Sectus, shown at the Bischoff/Weiss gallery, London, in 2011. National Library of Belarus Emporis Web site Official photo gallery Creative studio of the architect Victor Kramarenko Creative studio of the architect Mihail Vinogradov Bischoff/Weiss gallery
National Library of Belarus
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Нацыянальная бібліятэка Беларусі Национальная библиотека Беларуси (National Library of Belarus)
22.
National Library of Belgium
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The Royal Library of Belgium is one of the most important cultural institutions in Belgium. The library has a history that goes back to the age of the Dukes of Burgundy, in the second half of the 20th century, a new building was constructed on the Mont des Arts in central Brussels, near the Central Station. The library owns several collections of importance, like the famous Fétis archives. There are four million volumes in the Royal Library, including a rare book collection numbering 45,000 works. The library has more than 700,000 engravings and drawings,150,000 maps and plans and this coin collection holds one of the most valuable coins in the field of numismatics, a fifth-century Sicilian tetradrachm. The Royal Library is open for reference only, patrons must be at least eighteen years of age and must pay an annual membership fee. Having more than 6 million books, the Royal Library of Belgium is the biggest library of the country and it also serves as collection point of Dutch language artworks. Made up of around 60 smaller collections concerning music, the department is a significant resource for the study of music history in Belgium. The most representative pieces are part of collections of François-Joseph Fétis, Eugène Ysaÿe, Henri Vieuxtemps, Marc Danval, Yves Becko, Denijs Dille, the Royal Library of Belgiums Music Division is considered one of Belgiums most important centers for the preservation and study of music-related documents. The Music Division maintains a rich and varied collection composed of hundreds of thousands of manuscript and printed scores, among the oldest pieces of the Fétis Collection are several late 15th century manuscripts by theorist Johannes Tinctoris. Through legal deposit, the Music Division also acquires a number of musicological works. The Music Division assumes a role within various international associations, notably IAML, RILM. The non-profit organization Archives Béla Bartók de Belgique was created in 2002 and has its headquarters in the Music Division, the “Librarium” is a permament exhibition dedicated to the history of the book. The Librarium consists of 6 halls each shedding a different light on carriers of writing, in the first hall the book emergence is introduced. The whole room is dedicated to show the relation between word and image, the collection material is changed every three months. Moreover, the exhibition shows furnished rooms of Henry Van de Velde, Michel de Ghelderode, 1837-1850, Frédéric de Reiffenberg 1850-1887, Louis-Joseph Alvin 1887-1904, Edouard Fétis 1904-1909, Henri Hymans 1909-1912, Joseph Van den Gheyn, S. J
National Library of Belgium
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Koninklijke Bibliotheek België / Bibliothèque royale de Belgique (Royal Library of Belgium)
National Library of Belgium
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The tower of the old Royal Library of Brussels on the site of the modern building of the Albertina (drawing by Léon van Dievoet)
23.
National Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina
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Sarajevo City Hall, known as Vijećnica, is located in the city of Sarajevo. It was designed in 1891 by the Czech architect Karel Pařík and it was initially the largest and most representative building of the Austro-Hungarian period in Sarajevo and served as the city hall. The building was reopened on May 9,2014, alexander Wittek, who worked on the project in 1892 and 1893, fell ill and died in 1894 in Graz, and the work was completed by Ćiril Iveković. Building works began in 1892 and were completed in 1894, at a cost of 984,000 crowns, with 32,000 crowns provided for fixtures, before the attack, the library held 1.5 million volumes and over 155,000 rare books and manuscripts. Some citizens and librarians tried to save some books while they were under sniper fire, the majority of the books could not be saved from the flames. The structural repair of the building was planned to be carried out in four stages, 1996-1997, and 2000-2004, the third stage ended in September 2012, with an estimated cost of KM4.6 million and will return the city hall to its former grace. The fourth stage began following the completion of the stage and lasted about 20 months, finishing at the end of 2013. In this stage the whole interior was built and reconstructed, meaning the building is brought back to function, everything that was possible to restore has been done so, while those things that were not possible to save have been made anew through special molds. The whole reconstruction and restore process was predicted to cost about KM25 million, after it is repaired, the building, now a national monument, will be used for variety of events. Its space will be used for various events for all levels of government, concerts. After the years of restoration, the building was reopened on May 9,2014, with the performance of Sarajevo Philharmonic Orchestra, gimnazija Mostar, also built in Moorish Revival style Destruction of libraries National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina
National Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina
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Vijećnica
National Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina
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Library as seen from Yellow Fortress
National Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina
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Vedran Smailović playing the
cello in the destroyed National Library, in 1992
National Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina
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The interior after restoration
24.
National Library of Bulgaria
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Cyril and Methodius National Library is the national library of Bulgaria, situated in the capital city of Sofia. Founded on 4 April 1878, the received the status of Bulgarian National Library three years later and the Bulgarian National Revival Archive was merged into it in 1924. Cyril and Methodius, Saints Cyril and Methodius and they are the creators of the Glagolitic alphabet. The Cyrillic alphabet is named after Cyril, the present building of the library is among the landmarks of Sofia. It was designed by the famous Bulgarian architectural team Vasilyov-Dimitur Tsolov, in 1878, Mikhail Bobotinov, a teacher and secretary of the City Council in Sofia, proposed to establish a public library for the need of cultural and educational development in Sofia. The library was then arranged and open in 1878 and finally received its own building in 1900, in 1939, a new building began construction, but sadly in 1944 both the new and old building were destroyed during a bombing in Sofia. In 1953, the National Library opens its new building under the name Vasil Kolarov and it was not until 1963 that the library was renamed from Vasil Kolarov to St. Cyril and Methodius. Slavonic Scriptures, a collection of more than 1,700 originals dating from the 11th to the 19th centuries, greek and other Foreign Scriptures with around 200 monuments, 9th to 19th century. Eastern Scriptures, containing around 3,100 Arabic,500 Ottoman, both collections contain over 500,000 units,714 registers and 168 sidjals. Old Print Books from the Orient, a collection of around 2,000 volumes in Arabic, Turkish and Persian, Bulgarian Historical Archive with over 1. Portraits and Photographs, a collection of over 80,000 photographs, Cyril and Methodius National Library at Wikimedia Commons Official website of the National Library Web catalogue of the National Library Oriental Collections Department
National Library of Bulgaria
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A front view of the library building designed by
Vasilyov -Tsolov
National Library of Bulgaria
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Former building of the library in 1910. It was destroyed in the
bombing in 1943-1944.
25.
National Library of Croatia
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National and University Library in Zagreb is the national library of Croatia and central library of the University of Zagreb. The Library was established in 1607 and its primary mission is the development and preservation of Croatian national written heritage. It holds around 3 million items, since 1995 the NUL has been located in an impressive glass cube in central Zagreb. This modern edifice was designed by renowned Croatian architects Velimir Neidhardt, Marijan Hržić, Zvonimir Krznarić and Davor Mance, the preservation and restoration of library materials in the context of the international Preservation and Conservation programme,3. The promotion of Croatian printed and electronic publications,4, the integration of the Library’s bibliographic activities and information services into international programmes,5. The organization of the Library as the centre of the system of the Republic of Croatia. Scientific research in the field of library and information sciences,7, publishing and various promotional activities and the organization of exhibitions
National Library of Croatia
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National and University Library building
National Library of Croatia
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Faculties
26.
National Library of Denmark
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The Royal Library in Copenhagen, Denmark, is the national library of Denmark and the university library of the University of Copenhagen. It is the largest library in the Nordic countries and it contains numerous historical treasures, and a copy of all works printed in Denmark since the 17th century are deposited there. Thanks to extensive donations in the past, the library holds nearly all known Danish printed works back to and including the first Danish book, the library was founded in 1648 by King Frederik III, who contributed a comprehensive collection of European works. It was opened to the public in 1793, in 1989, it was merged with the prestigious Copenhagen University Library. In 2005, it was merged with the Danish National Library for Science and Medicine, now the Faculty Library of Natural, the official name of the organization as of 1 January 2006 is The Royal Library, the National Library of Denmark and the Copenhagen University Library. In 2008, the Danish Folklore Archive was merged with the Royal Library and it is open to anyone above the age of 18 with a genuine need to use the collections. Special rules apply for use of rare and valuable items, the annual circulation is 11,400,000 loans. The members are 32,196 active users, the annual budget, 394M Danish Kroner, including building expenses and maintenance. The old building of the Slotsholmen site was built in 1906 by Hans Jørgen Holm, the central hall is a copy of Charlemagnes Palace chapel in the Aachen Cathedral. In 1999, a new building adjacent to the old one was opened at Slotsholmen, the Black Diamond building was designed by Danish architects schmidt hammer lassen. Named for its cover of black marble and glass, the Black Diamond building houses a concert hall in addition to the library. This new building was opened 1999 and it is formed by two black cubes that are slightly tilted over the street. In the middle of them, there is an eight storey atrium whose walls are white and wave-shaped, the atriums exterior wall is made of glass, so, you can see the sea, and, on the opposite shore, you can see Christianshavns luxury buildings. Three bridges connect the Black Diamond with the old part of the Royal Library, in the ceiling of the big bridge, there is a huge painting by Danish painter Per Kirkeby. The Royal Library acquires Danish books through legal deposit, the holdings include an almost complete collection of all Danish printed books back from 1482. In 2006, legal deposit was extended to publications and now the library harvests four electronic copies of the Danish Internet each year. Commonly called the Hamburg Bible or the Bible of Bertoldus, a richly illuminated Bible in three large volumes made for the Cathedral of Hamburg in 1255. The 89 illuminated initials in the book are both as expressions of medieval art and as sources to the craft and history of the medieval book
National Library of Denmark
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Det Kongelige Bibliotek, Danmarks Nationalbibliotek og Københavns Universitetsbibliotek (The Royal Library, The National Library of Denmark and Copenhagen University Library)
National Library of Denmark
–
The Black Diamond building, viewed from the southeast
National Library of Denmark
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The building of the Royal Library, Denmark, on
Slotsholmen which dates to 1906, viewed from the northwest
National Library of Denmark
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Panoramic view of the new building opened in 1999 (taken by Peter Pihlmann Pedersen, 2013)
27.
National Library of Finland
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The National Library of Finland is the foremost research library in Finland. Administratively the library is part of the University of Helsinki, until 1 August 2006, it was known as the Helsinki University Library. The National Library is responsible for storing the Finnish cultural heritage and these copies are then distributed by the Library to its own national collection and to reserve collections of five other university libraries. Also, the National Library has the obligation to collect and preserve materials published on the Internet, any person who lives in Finland may register as a user of the National Library and borrow library material. The publications in the collection, however, are not loaned outside the library. The library also is home to one of the most comprehensive collections of books published in the Russian Empire of any library in the world, the National Library is located in Helsinki, close to Senaatintori square. The oldest part of the complex, designed by Carl Ludvig Engel. The newer extension Rotunda dates to 1903, the bulk of the collection is, nonetheless, stored in Kirjaluola, a 57, 600-cubic-metre underground bunker drilled into solid rock,18 metres below the library. University of Helsinki Helsinki Central Library Official website
National Library of Finland
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The main building of the National Library of Finland
National Library of Finland
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C.L. Engel and Gustaf Nyström, University Architects
National Library of Finland
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Rotunda
National Library of Finland
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Fabiania (View from Fabianinkatu)
28.
National Library of France
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The Bibliothèque nationale de France is the National Library of France, located in Paris. It is the repository of all that is published in France. The current president of the library is Laurence Engel, the National Library of France traces its origin to the royal library founded at the Louvre Palace by Charles V in 1368. Charles had received a collection of manuscripts from his predecessor, John II, the first librarian of record was Claude Mallet, the kings valet de chambre, who made a sort of catalogue, Inventoire des Livres du Roy nostre Seigneur estans au Chastel du Louvre. Jean Blanchet made another list in 1380 and Jean de Bégue one in 1411, Charles V was a patron of learning and encouraged the making and collection of books. It is known that he employed Nicholas Oresme, Raoul de Presle, at the death of Charles VI, this first collection was unilaterally bought by the English regent of France, the Duke of Bedford, who transferred it to England in 1424. It was apparently dispersed at his death in 1435, Charles VII did little to repair the loss of these books, but the invention of printing resulted in the starting of another collection in the Louvre inherited by Louis XI in 1461. Charles VIII seized a part of the collection of the kings of Aragon, Louis XII, who had inherited the library at Blois, incorporated the latter into the Bibliothèque du Roi and further enriched it with the Gruthuyse collection and with plunder from Milan. Francis I transferred the collection in 1534 to Fontainebleau and merged it with his private library, during his reign, fine bindings became the craze and many of the books added by him and Henry II are masterpieces of the binders art. Under librarianship of Amyot, the collection was transferred to Paris during which many treasures were lost. Henry IV again moved it to the Collège de Clermont and in 1604 it was housed in the Rue de la Harpe, the appointment of Jacques Auguste de Thou as librarian initiated a period of development that made it the largest and richest collection of books in the world. He was succeeded by his son who was replaced, when executed for treason, by Jérôme Bignon, under de Thou, the library was enriched by the collections of Queen Catherine de Medici. The library grew rapidly during the reigns of Louis XIII and Louis XIV, due in part to the interest of the Minister of Finance, Colbert. The quarters in the Rue de la Harpe becoming inadequate, the library was moved, in 1666. The minister Louvois took quite as much interest in the library as Colbert, the death of Louvois, however, prevented the realization of this plan. Louvois employed Mabillon, Thévenot and others to procure books from every source, in 1688 a catalogue in eight volumes was compiled. The library opened to the public in 1692, under the administration of Abbé Louvois, Abbé Louvois was succeeded by the Abbé Bignon, or Bignon II as he was termed, who instituted a complete reform of the librarys system. Catalogues were made which appeared from 1739–53 in 11 volumes, the librarys collections swelled to over 300,000 volumes during the radical phase of the French Revolution when the private libraries of aristocrats and clergy were seized
National Library of France
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Reading Room, Richelieu site
National Library of France
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Bibliothèque nationale de France (National Library of France)
