In 2009 Oldenburg University Library and the Stiftung Niedersachsen jointly acquired the intact working library of the philosopher Karl Jaspers, who was born and grew up in Oldenburg. The library is intended to serve national and international Jaspers research and in particular the planned "commented complete edition of Karl Jaspers' works, Nachlass and letters". It is immensely important in this respect because:

"What makes the library so valuable as a whole is the fact that Jaspers read with a pencil in hand. The books are full of underlinings and comments. These reveal what informed his work, to what extent he read different authors in detail and where his reading stopped." (Excerpt from a letter by Dr. Dr. h. c. Hans Saner to Senior Library Director H. Havekost dated 15. 6. 1991)

The collection of approximately 12,000 volumes is housed in the Karl-Jaspers-Haus in Oldenburg. The works were set up in the same order in which Jaspers left them and which was preserved by his last assistant, Hans Saner. After Jaspers' death Hans Saner complemented the collection with new editions of Jaspers' works and secondary literature on the philosopher and his works.

The following article provides a detailed description of the Karl Jaspers Library:

Hans-Joachim Wätjen: "Er hat mit dem Bleistift gelesen…". Die Bibliothek von Karl Jaspers als Quelle für die Forschung. In: Offener Horizont. Jahrbuch der Karl Jaspers-Gesellschaft. Hrsg. von Matthias Bormuth. 1/2014. S. 59-71.

 Karl Jaspers Library Catalogue

The library's holdings are indexed in a separate catalogue and can be researched there:

• Karl Jaspers Library Catalogue

Terms of Use

The Karl Jaspers Library is not open to the general public.

Please direct any enquiries about using the library or guided tours to the University Library's Philosophy Section.

• Dr. Oliver Schoenbeck
  oliver.schoenbeck@uni-oldenburg.de
  Phone: 0441/798-4257

Use of the library is restricted to research purposes and editorial work. If legitimate interest can be proved, books may by made available for use in the University Library's Multimedia Centre.