Rare books
The University Library of Bern has a significant collection of historical prints and special collections. Most of these historical holdings and special collections can be ordered and consulted in the Special reading room for historical collections in the Library Münstergasse. Rossica can be consulted in the Swiss Library of Eastern European (SOB).
Digital copies
Parts of our holdings can be viewed on the e-rara.ch platform in the form of high-resolution digital copies.
For the majority of our other holdings (books and maps published between 1500 and 1900), we offer an E-Books on Demand (EOD) service for ordering digitised copies.
Exhibitions
Save a book
Your generous donation will contribute to conserving rare books and maps.
Bern collections and scholarly libraries
Haller records of printing
Records of printing orders from the Haller publishing house in the years 1800 to 1859.
Museum and Reading Society
Museum and Reading Society
Collection of books from the 19th century, mostly travel literature and fiction in German.
Old Town Library of Thun
Collection with focus on the 19th century.
Zesiger collection
Collection with focus on natural sciences, history and topography.
Holzer Collection
Erwin Holzer's specialist library with animal geography and ornithological literature.
Fuchs Collection
The scientific library of the botanist Hans Peter Fuchs-Eckert
Fine press books
Fine press books are rarities and important witnesses of 20th and 21st century book art.
SAC-Bibliothek
The library of the Bern section of the Swiss Alpine Club SAC.
Incunables
The University Library of Bern houses 461 incunables from the period up to 1500.
Bongarsiana
Library of the French diplomat and humanist scholar Jacques Bongars.
Hospinian collection
Precious prints by the humanist scholar and Latin professor Leonhard Hospinian (German: Wirth).
Aretius collection
Collection of primarily theological writings
Artopoeus collection
The collection comprises 100 volumes, of which 11 are incunabula.
Singer collection
Germanistic-mediaevistic reference library.
Fellenberg collection
Von Fellenberg collected works that would be useful for pupils and teachers in educational establishments.
Hollis collection
More than 400 carefully selected books from the Age of Enlightenment.
Thorberg
A monastery library dissolved during the Reformation in 1528.
Eastern European collections
Rossica Europeana
The "Rossica Europeana" collection documents Russia as portrayed in (Western) European publications, maps and illustrations from Early Modern times to the turn of the 20th century.
The Russian Library of Davos ('Davos Library')
The Russian Library of Davos ('Davos Library') / Bibliothèque russe de Davos comprises around 3,000 volumes with printed documents from the last quarter of the 19th century to the first quarter of the 20th century.
Historic Bookholdings of Switzerland
You will find a survey of our rare books in the Manual of Switzerland's historical books.
Contact Persons
- Name / Titel
- Dr. Stefan Matter
- Funktion
- Curator
- stefan.matter@unibe.ch
- Phone
- +41 31 684 92 50
- Name / Titel
- Petra Hanschke
- Funktion
- Head of preservation services
- petra.hanschke@unibe.ch
- Phone
- +41 31 684 93 49
- Phone2
- +41 31 684 92 11
- Name / Titel
- Dr. Eva Maurer
- Funktion
- Head of the Swiss Library of Eastern Europe, subject librarian East European Studies
- eva.maurer@unibe.ch
- Phone
- +41 31 684 41 78
- Phone2
- +41 31 684 41 80