What is GND?
The Integrated Authority File «GND» is the largest library authority database in the German-speaking community. It contains entities such as persons, works, corporate bodies, conferences, places and subject headings.
All entities are provided with a unique identifier, called the GND-number. In this way, they can be clearly distinguished from other entities of the same name. Additionally,it is possible to merge and assign different spelling variants, including those derived from other languages and alphabets, while further elements needed for identification (e.g. temporal or geographical references) can be stored. The GND number is recognisable by its prefix (DE-588), which is tied to a multi-digit number sequence.