Three years after being devastated by fire, the Duchess Anna Amalia Library – a part of UNESCO’s "Classical Weimar" world heritage site – is restored and resplendent. On October 24, its patroness’ birthday, German President Horst Köhler will formally reinaugurate the historic library building. The library will then be reopened to the public on December 1.
This was not a reconstruction, but essentially a restoration, Library Director Michael Knoche proudly emphasizes. And Helmut Seemann, President of the Weimar Classics Foundation, enthuses: "It still seems like a miracle, like waking up from a horrible nightmare."
In many ways the library is closer now to the way it was in its heyday around 1850 than ever before – the luminous light blue of the walls in the Rococo Room, the color of the exterior façade, and the Renaissance Room on the ground floor of the "Green Castle," which will also be open for special exhibitions. But the attic story under the mansard roof had to be entirely rebuilt. And that’s also where the extensive up-to-date building systems are now installed – but some charred wood on the balustrade to the Rococo Room serves as a reminder of the fire.
Anna Amalia Library to reopen soon
The newly restored Rococo Room of the Anna Amalia Library; Photo: Maik Schuck
Allianz had a role even before the fire
"I’ll never forget the day I first saw the Anna Amalia," says Henning Schulte-Noelle, who first visited the library in the nineties, and later took a great interest in its preservation as chairman of the Allianz Cultural Foundation’s board. "I was instantly captivated by its charm, its light-hearted Rococo décor, its intimacy," he adds.
When Michael Knoche then explained to Schulte-Noelle, who was then CEO at Allianz, that the building was overdue for stabilization and restoration, it didn’t take the Allianz executive long to promise financial support. Under a public-private partnership, the Allianz Cultural Foundation supported the restoration with a total of 1.4 million euros, as the largest private contributor. The extraordinary scope of the commitment becomes clear when Schulte-Noelle emphasizes that it’s almost equivalent to the Foundation’s entire annual project budget.
Damp and fire cause delays
Plans originally called for the renovation to be complete by 1999. But the library soon turned out to be in worse shape than expected. The walls were so damp that water damage had developed, and bugs and fungus had taken up residence.
Fire has always been the biggest threat to libraries – which, incidentally, is why the Anna Amalia’s Rococo Room has never been heated, even today. But it did no good on the night of September 2, 2004, when the largest library fire in German postwar history broke out only a few weeks before the precious books were due to be relocated to a new depository. Thuringian Minister of Culture Jens Goebel still vividly remembers the blaze. At the time he thought the building would be impossible to save.
The fire destroyed numerous paintings and about 50,000 books. Some 62,000 more could be replaced or are being painstakingly restored, a process that is expected to take till 2015. But the fire also released unexpected resources: a total of nearly 20,000 individuals, companies and institutions donated toward the reconstruction.
A European historical site
The Anna Amalia Library is a historical site for all of Europe, Schulte-Noelle points out: "Is there anyplace in Germany that could be more suitable than Weimar as the cradle of a pan-European educational project?" In that sense, the commitment to Weimar is also beautifully consistent with the Allianz Cultural Foundation’s European focus. With the foundation’s support, schoolchildren from German schools abroad have been visiting the city and its unique cultural heritage for two-week stays, starting this past summer. The foundation’s "Anna Amalia Book Campaigns" also help support threatened public libraries, and a contest now encourages young people to describe the library of their dreams.
One current project is the "Weimar Rooms" exhibit by internationally renowned photographer and Documenta exhibitor Candida Höfer, which opened on October 18. Using interior shots she took shortly before the fire as a starting point, in summer 2006 she photographed a number of other classic Weimar interiors. Some of her large-format photographs will be on view at the New Museum Weimar, in cooperation with the Allianz Cultural Foundation, until February 17, 2008.