German National Library

The German National Library (DNB; German: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek) is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany. It is one of the largest libraries in the world. Its task is to collect, permanently archive, comprehensively document and record bibliographically all German and German-language publications since 1913, foreign publications about Germany, translations of German works, and the works of German-speaking emigrants published abroad between 1933 and 1945, and to make them available to the public. The DNB is also responsible for the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie [de] and several special collections like the Deutsches Exilarchiv 1933–1945 (German Exile Archive), Anne-Frank-Shoah-Bibliothek [de] and the Deutsches Buch- und Schriftmuseum (German Museum of Books and Writing). The German National Library maintains co-operative external relations on a national and international level. For example, it is the leading partner in developing and maintaining bibliographic rules and standards in Germany and plays a significant role in the development of international library standards. The cooperation with publishers has been regulated by law since 1935 for the Deutsche Bücherei Leipzig [de] and since 1969 for the Deutsche Bibliothek Frankfurt am Main.

Duties are shared between the facilities in Leipzig and Frankfurt, with each center focusing its work in specific specialty areas. A third facility has been the Deutsches Musikarchiv Berlin (founded 1970), which deals with all music-related archiving (both printed and recorded materials). Since 2010, the Deutsches Musikarchiv is also located in Leipzig as an integral part of the facility there.