POINT OF INTEREST

Dansk Centralbibliotek

Norderstraße 59, 24939 Flensburg

The Danish Central Library (Dansk Centralbibliotek) is an important cultural and educational centre in the region. It provides for the most part all kinds of Danish-language literature to the Danish minority on the German side. The library is a “must” for those who are interested in Danish culture.

“Dansk Centralbibliotek for Sydslesvig e.V.” on Norderstrasse is the library of the Danish minority group in Schleswig-Holstein. It was built in 1959 and expanded in 1985/86[1]. The Danish state provides about 87% of its funding, while 1% comes from the library’s own resources and 12% from the German side. The central library in Flensburg goes back to the year 1891. There are branches in Schleswig, Husum and Eckernförde as well as two library buses which provide Kiel with literature and media. The library is also a venue for cultural events, including readings, exhibitions and Danish language courses. A study department (today research department = Forskningsafdelingen) is attached to the library and curates the archive of the Danish minority in the region of Schleswig. The archive is used for research and as a source of knowledge. The Schleswig Collection (Den Slesvigske Samling) contains (academic) literature on the history of the northern and southern parts of Schleswig, topographic and statistical works, old bibles and other literature in Danish, German, Low German, Low Danish (Sønderjysk) and Frisian as well as some works in (the special Flensburg) Petuh vernacular. The collection was compiled in 1891 and, especially after the division of Schleswig in 1920, works from private collections and Danish libraries were added. The German-Danish Library Forum – an association of large libraries on the northern and southern sides of the border – has existed since the end of the 1990s. The members include the German Central Library in Aabenraa (Denmark), which is responsible for the German minority in the Danish region of Northern Schleswig and is the counterpart to the Danish Central Library[2].