GHIL Library

Image showing a desk and chair in one of the first floor library rooms. The chair is pulled out invitingly, and a book is lying on the desk.

The library of the GHIL is an important and well-regarded institution for British historians of German history, students at London universities, and the general public. Its holdings on German history, British-German relations from the Middle Ages to the present day, and wider European history are comprehensive, up to date, free to use, and form a unique collection in Britain.

Visiting and joining the Library

Opening times:
Summer opening hours: 1st July–31st August, Monday–Friday, 9.30am–5pm

New readers need to register for a library card and have a short introductory tour of the library before or during their first visit. The induction is available in person (Mo-Fr, 9.30am-4pm) or by appointment online via Zoom (email: library@ghil.ac.uk). A portrait photo (4.5 x 3.5 cm) and recent proof of address must be provided.

Library staff are also available for general enquiries at library@ghil.ac.uk.

If you would like to receive regular updates on recent acquisitions, featured books, and other library news, then you can sign up to the Library Newsletter.

Library Guide

Take a look at the flipbook below for an introduction to our library.

Featured Books

Green spaces: parks and gardens

Summer is the time for working in the garden, and enjoying the fruits (and vegetables and flowers) of your labours. It is also the best season to enjoy city and country parks: playing games, having picnics, or just walking through lovely landscapes. To provide you with some reading inspiration, we have chosen a number of books on the history of parks and gardens from our collections. Why not show your local park some love by grabbing a drink, a blanket and a good book, and enjoying some al fresco reading surrounded by the beauties of the natural world?

You can see these books in the Common Room at the GHIL, with an additional display on Leisure/Freizeit in the display case facing onto the stairs.

See in library catalogue

Hazel Conway

People's parks : the design and development of Victorian parks in Britain.

Cambridge : Cambridge Univ. Press, 1991

Ug.8/6005

Sascha Winter

Das Grab in der Natur : Sepulkralkunst und Memoriakultur in europäischen Gärten und Parks des 18. Jahrhunderts

Studien zur internationalen Architektur- und Kunstgeschichte. 161

Petersberg : Michael Imhof Verlag, 2018

Df/3548

Hubertus Fischer, Sigrid Thielking, Joachim Wolschke-Bulmahn (eds.)

Reisen in Parks und Gärten : Umrisse einer Rezeptions- und Imaginationsgeschichte

CGL studies. 11

München : Martin Meidenbauer, 2012

Ga/4023

Micheline Nilsen

The working man's green space : allotment gardens in England, France, and Germany, 1870-1919

Charlottesville, VA ; London : Univ. of Virginia Press, 2014

Dk/2574/3

Franz Bosbach and Gert Gröning (eds.)

Landschaftsgärten des 18. und 19. Jahrhunderts : Beispiele deutsch-britischen Kulturtransfers

Prinz-Albert-Studien. Bd 26

München : Saur, 2008

Se.11/278

Georg Schütte and Joachim Wolschke-Bulmahn

Die Ingenieurwissenschaften und die Gartenkunst : Technische Meisterwerke der Wasserkunst in Gärten und Parkanlagen

Herrenhäuser Schriften

München : Akademische Verlagsgemeinschaft München, 2023

Sa.8/1280 (eBook)

Wiebke Reinert

Applaus der Robbe : Arbeit und Vergnügen im Zoo, 1850-1970

Histoire. Band 173

Bielefeld : transcript, 2020

Sa.11/3050 (eBook)

Horst Bredekamp

Leibniz und die Revolution der Gartenkunst : Herrenhausen, Versailles und die Philosophie der Blätter

Kleine Kulturwissenschaftliche Bibliothek. Bd 83

Berlin : Wagenbach, 2012

Tz/Han 62

Utta Bach

Die Gartenkultur am Münchner Hof unter Kurfürst Max Emanuel 1679-1726 : Realisierung - Administration - Botanik

Geschichtswissenschaften. Band 19

München : Herbert Utz Verlag, 2007

Se.8/1051/2 (eBook)

Cornelia Jöchner

Die "schöne Ordnung" und der Hof : Geometrische Gartenkunst in Dresden und anderen deutschen Residenzen

Marburger Studien zur Kunst- und Kulturgeschichte. Bd 2

Weimar : VDG, 2001

Se.8/1051/1

Hans-Jürgen Sarfert ; ed. Walter Schmitz

Hellerau : die Gartenstadt und Künstlerkolonie

Dresden ; München : Thelem, 2022

Sa.8/2321

Annelore Rieke-Müller and Lothar Dittrich

Der Löwe brüllt nebenan : Die Gründung Zoologischer Gärten im deutschsprachigen Raum 1833-1869

Köln, Weimar, Wien : Böhlau, 1998

Se.11/501

Beate Reinhold (ed.)

Schloss Herrenhausen : Architektur, Garten, Geistesgeschichte

München : Hirmer, 2013

Tz/Han 60

Benjamin Dörr

Der Lützschenaer Park des Maximilian Speck von Sternburg : Bürgerliche Gartenkunst im Biedermeier

Schriftenreihe Schriften zur Kunstgeschichte. Band 76

Hamburg : Verlag Dr. Kovac, 2021

Se.8/958 (eBook)

Thomas Nitschke

Die Gartenstadt Hellerau : eine "pädagogische Provinz" und ihre Gegner

Dresden : Thelem, 2021

Sa.8/2320

Library Catalogue

All of our books, journals and electronic resources can be found via our online catalogue.

Recently published books can be made available to readers very quickly, and we invite readers to suggest new acquisitions at library@ghil.ac.uk.

Start your search

Library Collections

The GHIL Library's holdings comprise around 95,000 volumes, with a growing number of electronic resources. The collection's focus is largely on German history, with a special emphasis on the 19th and 20th centuries. Around a third of the library's resources are English-language materials.

Access and Services

The library is open to anyone with an interest in German history, British-German relations, or comparative historiography. The collection is reference only, so books cannot be taken out on loan.

There are no membership or joining fees but a passport photo and recent proof of address should be provided on the first visit so that a library card can be issued.

Contact and opening hours

Contact

German Historical Institute Library
17 Bloomsbury Square
London WC1A 2NJ

Tel. +44-(0)20-7309 2050
Email: library@ghil.ac.uk

Opening hours

Summer opening hours: 1st July–31st August, Monday–Friday: 9.30am-5pm

Meet the Team

German Historical Institute London