Mittelstrasse Library
Archaeology • Art History • Gender Studies • Musicology • Sustainable Development • Theater Studies
Opening hours
Reading Room
The reading rooms are open from 07:00 until 20:00.
Opening hours July 31 / August 1 (national holiday): On Thursday, July 31, the lending desk and book collection close at 4:00 pm, the reading room is open until 8:00 pm. The library is closed on Friday, August 1.
Service times July / August 2025: The lending desk will be closed on Mondays. The courier service will be available and you will find the books you have ordered in the self-collection shelf. The reading room and open stacks are accessible during normal opening hours. The usual service hours apply from Tuesday to Friday.
Services
Mittelstrasse Library is open to the public; its services and collections are intended to meet the needs of students and the faculty.
Infrastructure
- study spaces: 70 short-term and 20 long-term study spaces
- 60 lockers
- 3 group study rooms (seating for 8 or 12 persons respectively). Online reservation here.
- 1 Uniprint device
- 1 book scanner
- wireless network (network of the University of Bern)
Borrowing Services
- Borrowing and return point for media. The loan conditions are based on the regulations of the University Library of Bern
- Pickup and return point for all courier libraries of the local courier (Berner Kurier) as well as of the Swiss Courier (SLSP-Kurier)
- Interlibrary loan and document delivery
Introduction and Consultancy
- Assistance and information from library staff during service hours
- Library introductions and introductions to literature research in the library catalogue swisscovery for groups (upon request via E-Mail)
- Individual, subject-specific library introductions with Actionbound App (in German. Starting point at the service desk)
- Coffee Lectures: short tutorials on how to work in the humanities and social sciences
- Portal Theology and Humanities to support your studies, research and teaching (in German)
- Subject specific support by subject librarians: complex research tasks, database search, search strategies, scientific writing and publishing, reference management and citation
Further information
Collections
Mittelstrasse Library is an open access library and comprises around 200,000 documents on the following subjects:
Archaeology of the Roman Provinces and Prehistoric Archaeology
- prehistory and early history of Europe
- archaeology of the Roman Provinces in Europe and Northwest Africa
- Swiss medieval archaeology, experimental archaeology und museum science
Mediterranean Archaeology
- art and culture of Greek and Roman Antiquity
- art and culture of the Etruscans
- bilingual editions of ancient authors
Near Eastern Archaeology
- Near Eastern Archaeology (from India to the Mediterranean and from Southern Russia to the Arab Peninsula with a special focus on Iraq, Syria and Turkey) from the beginning of the Epipalaeolithic to the end of the Ancient Oriental Empires
- cuneiform writing with emphasis on Sumerian and Akkadian
Art History / Museum of Fine Arts
- specialized literature in all fields of art history and architecture
- source texts and encyclopedias (on-site use)
- journals (latest 10 volumes, on-site use)
- rare books (16th-19th centuries, on-site use)
Gender Studies
- basic literature on gender studies and various other disciplines
- classical and recent works of women’s and gender studies
- special emphasis on the topics of gender and development, gender and governance, women's rights and human rights, sustainable development and migration
Musicology
- literature on all fields of musicology including cultural anthropology of music
- collection focus: European music theater, opera of the 19th century
- music: complete editions of individual composers, memorial and series editions, scores, study scores, piano scores
- sound archive (on-site use, restricted opening hours)
Sustainable Development
- literature on sustainable development
- scientific and interdisciplinary literature on all aspects of sustainable development
- books and e-books, journals (print and online) and DVDs
Theater Studies / Performing Arts
- specialized literature in all fields of theater (drama, opera, operetta, musical, dance), including puppet theater, cabaret, variety shows, circus, showmanship and theater-related traditions
- reference works and journals (on-site use)
All media are listed in the swisscovery Universität und PH Bern online catalog.
You can submit acquisition suggestions via electronic form.
New Acquisitions
Further information
Contacts
Administration
- Name / Titel
- Dr. Regula Schatzmann
- Funktion
- Head Mittelstrasse Library
- regula.schatzmann@unibe.ch
- Phone
- +41 31 684 93 82
- Name / Titel
- Simone Hess
- Funktion
- Deputy Head of Mittelstrasse Library
- simone.hess@unibe.ch
- Phone
- +41 31 684 93 81
Team
- Name / Titel
- Daniel Balmelli
- daniel.balmelli@unibe.ch
- Phone
- +41 31 684 93 84
- Name / Titel
- Barbara Bürki
- barbara.buerki@unibe.ch
- Phone
- +41 31 684 93 83
- Name / Titel
- Cathrine Dinkelacker
- cathrine.dinkelacker@unibe.ch
- Phone
- +41 31 684 93 85
- Name / Titel
- Isabel Grau
- isabel.grau@unibe.ch
- Phone
- +41 31 684 93 88
- Name / Titel
- Elif Gutknecht
- elif.gutknecht@unibe.ch
- Phone
- +41 31 684 93 86
- Name / Titel
- Silvia Neukomm
- silvia.neukomm@unibe.ch
- Phone
- +41 31 684 93 92
- Name / Titel
- Petra Piller
- petra.piller@unibe.ch
- Phone
- +41 31 684 93 94
- Name / Titel
- Jael Züger
- jael.zueger@unibe.ch
- Phone
- +41 31 684 93 91
Subject librarians
- Name / Titel
- Sabrina Bührer
- Funktion
- Subject librarian ancient history, archeology
- sabrina.buehrer@unibe.ch
- Phone
- +41 31 684 94 43
- Name / Titel
- Dr. Eri Amsler
- Funktion
- Subject librarian geography, geology, chemistry, biochemistry, sustainable development, and natural sciences in general
- eri.amsler@unibe.ch
- Phone
- +41 31 684 94 67
- Name / Titel
- Dr. Ina Mertens
- Funktion
- Subject librarian art history and architecture
- ina.mertens@unibe.ch
- Phone
- +41 31 684 93 89
- Name / Titel
- Dr. Samuel Weibel
- Funktion
- Head of the theology and humanities department and subject librarian music dance and theater
- samuel.weibel@unibe.ch
- Phone
- +41 31 684 47 06
Research consultation
Book a librarian: Research consultation
Our subject librarians would be pleased to assist you in making full use of the resources of the University Library Bern:
- assistance in researching your topic
- using specialized databases
- help with search strategies
- help with open access publication
- information about open science
Please arrange an appointment via e-mail
Archaeology, Open Access, Sustainable Development
- Name / Titel
- Dr. Philipp Casula
- Funktion
- Subject librarian archaeology, sustainable development
- philipp.casula@unibe.ch
- Phone
- +41 31 684 93 87
History of Art and Architecture
- Name / Titel
- Dr. Ina Mertens
- Funktion
- Subject librarian art history and architecture
- ina.mertens@unibe.ch
- Phone
- +41 31 684 93 89
Music
- Name / Titel
- Dr. Samuel Weibel
- Funktion
- Head of the theology and humanities department and subject librarian music dance and theater
- samuel.weibel@unibe.ch
- Phone
- +41 31 684 47 06
Theater and Dance Studies
- Name / Titel
- Gesche Gerdes
- Funktion
- Executive administrator for information literacy and equality
- gesche.gerdes@unibe.ch
- Phone
- +41 31 684 93 54