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A German treasure trove of Icelandic literature
Since the early 19thcentury, The Kiel University Library has been collecting books from or about Iceland, and today it is a treasure trove to those interested in the country. Out of the 110,000 volumes in the library's Scandinavian department,11,000 are on the subject of Iceland – for example, its language, literature, history and law. The library subscribes to twenty Icelandic newspapers, magazines and periodicals, and also offers a wide selection of Icelandic works in German translations. Interlibrary loans are available to Germans and foreigners alike
The selection of printed media is supplemented with electronic resources, which can be accessed from anywhere in the world. The Virtual Library of Northern European and Baltic Regional Studies (Vifanord) is a collaborative project maintained by the university libraries in Kiel, Göttingen and Greifswald. In the system's catalog, users can conveniently search for titles and authors of printed books as well as online resources. At present, the catalogue lists roughly 230 internet resources on Iceland.
A similar project can be found in the Kuopio City Library in Finland, which has been collecting Icelandic fiction since 1988. Besides containing Icelandic novels in all the Scandinavian languages, the collection also includes non-fiction, maps, films, music and children's books.
Contact Information
Universitätsbibliothek Kiel
Leibnizstraße 9
24118 Kiel / Deutschland
0049 431 / 880-2700
Director: Dr. Else Maria Wischermann
Spokespersons for the Scandinavian Department:
Dr. Ruth Sindt (Department Supervisor)
sindt@ub.uni-kiel.de
Elsa Björg Didriksdóttir (Icelandic Books)
didriksdottir@ub.uni-kiel.de