The Paulinerkirche is a former church of a cloister in the city center of Göttingen, Germany. From 1294 the Dominicans settled at Göttingen and erected the church in 1304. It was dedicated to the apostles Peter and Paul and relics of Thomas Aquinas were stored here.
When the reformation hit the city the Paulinerkirche was used – against the will of the owners – for the first Protestant religious services. Later it was used as a school and became the germ cell of the university of Göttingen. It served as the library building of the university and was used for important academic events.
In 1820 the church St. Nikolai became the university church and in 1944 it was heavily destroyed by an air mine whose compression wave also damaged the nearby church St. Johannis. Nowadays it is used by the Niedersächsische Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek as a library location. Events are held in the main hall on the first floor which still looks a lot like a church.
It is decorated with ancient books and busts of famous scientists connected to Göttingen. Pages of important books of the collection are enlarged and exhibited, including the copy of the Gutenberg bible. You can also read a letter from Albert Einstein who wanted to reach that Emmy Noether receives the venia legendi – she late became the first female mathematics professor in Germany.
Treasure box
Apart from being a magnificent event location the building also holds a vast collection of important ancient books. The already named Gutenberg bible is the best-known one: it is one of four copies on parchment that were preserved over time. The other three are located at the Library of Congress (Washington, D.C.), the Bibliothèque nationale de France (Paris) and the British Library (London). But there are much more works worth to be known and preserved.
Very impressive is also the old Heyne-Saal in the same building. A massive amount of books stored on two levels of a very old reading room. Unfortunately it had to be closed to the public when an employee stole and sold nearly 50 books; the library had to upgrade their security measures afterwards. The room can be visited on a guided tour every last Thursday of the month at 4 pm (but please check their website upfront).
Did you know? As Germany has no national library collecting all German-language books as in other countries, different libraries fulfill this task: München, Wolfenbüttel, Göttingen, Frankfurt, Berlin, Leipzig. The Niedersächsische Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek of Göttingen is responsibly for works published in the years 1701 to 1800. That shows how important our local library is.
Niedersächsische Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek
Paulinerkirche (Historisches Gebäude)
Papendiek 14
37073 Göttingen
Germany
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