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Leuven University Library

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University Library, Monseigneur Ladeuzeplein, Leuven (Belgium), September 24th 2016

From the founding of the Catholic University of Leuven in 1425 up to 1636, the university did not have an official library of its own.  However, in 1636, the 'Central Library' was founded in a wing of the Lakenhalle of the city, which over time grew.

However, in 1797, the Catholic University of Leuven was abolished under the rule of Napoleon I, and the entire contents of the university's library was taken by the French occupiers - most of it to Central School in Brussels, except for the oldest and most valuable works which were taken to Paris (where most of these valuable works still reside to this day.)

When the University was re-established, first as a Royal University under the rule of the Dutch King Willem I in 1817, and then in 1834 as a Catholic University following Belgium's independence from the Netherlands in 1830, the University rebuilt its library, still housed in the Lakenhalle.

However, the re-established Central Library of the Catholic University and most of its collection was destroyed during the Sack of Leuven, when the Imperial German Army set fire to most of the city of Leuven on August 25th 1914.

The destruction of Leuven, and of its University Library, was a war crime which resulted in international indignation: following the end of the War, the new University Library was built at its current location.  Despite looking like a Neo-Renaissance-era building, the library was actually constructed between 1921 and 1928, according to the designs of the American architect Whitney Warren, and funded by relief organisations, most of them American.  Thanks to these and other gifts, the University Library managed to reconstruct a collection of books and manuscripts of about 900.000 volumes...

... which, at the outbreak of the Second World War, once again went up in flames, this time the result of an artillery exchange between the advancing Nazi-German, and retreating British forces on May 16th 1940, with both sides accusing one another for the fire.

Following World War II, the University Library was once again rebuilt.  Following the separation of the bilingual University into a Dutch-speaking university (in Leuven) and a French-speaking one (in Louvain-La-Neuve) in the late-1960s, the collection was split up between both Universities and locations.  Nowadays, the Catholic University Library in Leuven holds some 4 million volumes.

The University Library itself became a listed monument in 1987, and was restored between 1999 and 2003.  During the restoration, the library building's carillon, originally containing 48 bells, was expanded to 62 bells.
Image size
4000x3000px 3.17 MB
Make
Canon
Model
Canon PowerShot G15
Shutter Speed
1/1002 second
Aperture
F/2.8
Focal Length
8 mm
ISO Speed
80
Date Taken
Sep 24, 2016, 5:20:37 PM
Sensor Size
7mm
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Comments15
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rlkitterman's avatar
I'm glad it could be rebuilt (again) -- I'd love to take a look inside!