Elisabeth Kaiser, the East German Minister of the Federal Government, sharply criticized the decision by Culture Minister Wolfram Weimer to halt the planned expansion of the German National Library at its Leipzig site. “It is incomprehensible that the already‑planned expansion has now been stopped” Kaiser said on Friday. “This decision should be reconsidered”.
For her, safeguarding cultural values is paramount. “The German National Library’s mission to collect media works is a key pillar” she added. The library also promotes freedom of information and expression, thereby strengthening democracy. She further remarked that, in light of the debate over the bookshop prize, she wishes for literature to regain greater influence and for Leipzig’s legacy as a literary city to be more fully appreciated.
The German National Library (DNB), with locations in Frankfurt (Main) and Leipzig, is one of the world’s largest libraries. It collects, documents, and archives all written, visual, and audio media in German or published in or from Germany since 1913. Publishers in Germany are legally obliged to send two physical copies and one digital copy of every publication to the DNB. Each day, 13,100 media works arrive, adding an annual 6.1 kilometers of shelving to the collection.
According to earlier plans, an expansion begun in 2018 was meant to provide space for about 35.5 million media items. Items stored in the older structure, which is not climate‑controlled, would be transferred there to ensure their long‑term preservation. Culture Minister Weimer justified stopping the construction citing the federal budget situation. The library estimates that alternative solutions would also lead to additional costs.