Collections in the Library
The focus of the collections are historical and general humanities and social studies literature from and about Southeast Europe. Literature on the languages and southeast European fiction make up a much smaller part of the collection. In addition to the collections donated to the library (see below), highlights include the maps (some of which are currently being digitized in cooperation with Regensburg University Library) and the outstanding collection of southeast European newspapers from the second half of the 20th century which can be regarded as important contemporary sources.
Gerasimos Kaklamanis Library
Gerasimos Kaklamanis (1940-2003) was born in Greece on the Ionian island of Lefkada and spent most of his life in France and Germany. He studied mathematics, philosophy and history in Athens and Paris. For a large part of his life he was a freelance author. His literary works consist of 7 books written in Greek. His most important work is 'I Anatoliki Mesogeios Os Europaiki Istoria' (Tomos 1).
The central concern of his academic and political work was to draw attention to the particular significance of the Mediterranean area as a bridge between Europe and the Near East. Critically and analytically he scrutinised the interrelations in this area and their consequences for world politics in the past, present and future. Like many Greek intellectuals of his time, Kaklamanis spent the greatest part of his life abroad, because he was often in opposition to the ruling political situation of his homeland.
His own writing was also the reason for building up over a period of 40 years a private library of around 5 000 books, which are primarily concerned with the topic of the Mediterranean area. 60% of the books in the library are in German, 30% in Greek and 10% in French.
Carl Patsch Library
The scholar Carl Patsch (1865-1945) operated at first in Sarajevo, where he founded the Bosnian-Herzegovinian Institute for Balkan Research in 1904. In 1921 he succeeded Konstantin Josef Jireček at the University of Vienna. His library (1 400 volumes), which was acquired by the Institute in 1956, contains primarily literature on the regions of the western part of the Balkan peninsula. His handwritings and letters form part of the archival material of the Institute, which is being stowed at the Institute's documents at the Bayerisches Hauptstaatsarchiv at Munich.
Franz von Scheiger Library
In 1962 the library acquired the 500-volume estate of the engineer and diplomat Franz von Scheiger (1891-1960). The focus of his collection was on the history of Albania and its neighbouring states. It also contains numismatic literature.
Fritz Valjavec Library
Fritz Valjavec (1909-1960) worked from 1935 in the Institute for Southeast European Studies, which he directed from 1955 until his death. He made an enduring impression on the history of the Institute as well as on southeast European studies. He founded the Southeast European Society (Südosteuropa-Gesellschaft, SOG) and the journal "Südost-Forschungen (Southeast Research)". His library (2 300 volumes) reflects the areas of interest of his scholarly life. They cover the history of the countries of the Habsburg monarchy with a particular emphasis on the areas of German population in those lands.
