The University Library Erlangen-Nürnberg (UB) looks after an important part of Franconia’s cultural heritage in the form of the near complete inventories of the libraries of the medieval monasteries of Heilsbronn and St. Jobst, the Ansbach margraves’ castle library, and the library of the former university in Altdorf. These include manuscripts, incunables, early printed books from before 1530, rare printed works from the 16th to 18th century, and historic maps, some of which are hand coloured.

The UB curates the FAU Graphic Collection, which includes about 1,900 drawings made in workshops in Nuremberg from the 14th to the 18th century and is of international significance in terms of its artistic value, on behalf of Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU). The UB’s coin collections consist of around 28,000 coins and medals from Antiquity to the modern age and are some of the largest university coin collections in Germany.

Hundreds of years of use, poor storage conditions in the past, wear and tear, acidic paper, ink decomposition and mould have left their mark on the artefacts in these collections, some of which are the only ones of their kind.

However, the restoration work that is required to preserve these treasures for the long term is so cost intensive that government funding alone is not sufficient to ensure that the valuable collections are maintained for future generations.

How can you support us?

With a general or specific donation

• for preservation
• for restoration

We are happy to provide written confirmation of donations and include name plates with the names of donors in restored books.