Restored German library is set to reopen next week

The restoration of Germany’s famed Anna Amalia Library, gutted by fire three years ago, has been completed, and the building will reopen next week, officials said Thursday.

The $18.2-million restoration was undertaken after a fire blamed on an electrical fault tore through the roof and top floor of the 16th century rococo palace that houses the library.

Tens of thousands of irreplaceable books were damaged or destroyed in the Sept. 2, 2004, fire, although 6,000 works -- including a 1543 Martin Luther Bible -- were rescued from the flames by a chain of people.

Among the items destroyed was a collection of 18th century musical works donated by Duchess Anna Amalia and the renowned book collection gathered by the first librarian, Daniel Schurzfleisch, who brought them to the library on 35 horse-drawn carts in 1722.

About 50,000 books were destroyed and 62,000 were damaged -- $95.14 million in all -- while 28,000 were unharmed. They were part of an overall collection of some 1 million volumes belonging to the library, held at several places in Weimar, a city about 150 miles southwest of Berlin.

The collection centers on German literature from between 1750 and 1850. During that time, Germany’s most revered writer, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, lived in Weimar. Another German literary great, Friedrich Schiller, best known for his classical dramas, spent the last years of his life in Weimar and died there in 1805.

While construction teams worked to get the building back in shape for the official Oct. 24 reopening, thousands of books were painstakingly restored and 60,000 volumes have now been returned to the library, said the director, Michael Knoche.

“For me this day is like waking up from a terrible nightmare,” Knoche said.