Royal Library of Belgium (KBR)

Overview

The Royal Library of Belgium (Koninklijke Bibliotheek van België / Bibliothèque royale de Belgique), known by the short name KBR, is Belgium's national library, located on the Mont des Arts/Kunstberg in central Brussels. It is the country's depository for all books published in Belgium or abroad by Belgian authors.

History

The library's origins trace to the Library of the Dukes of Burgundy, created in the 15th century; by the death of Philip the Good in 1467, it held approximately 900 manuscripts, including illuminated works by miniaturists such as Simon Marmion, making it one of Europe's most prestigious collections. On April 12, 1559, Philip II of Spain consolidated the manuscripts at the Palace of Coudenberg, officially founding the Royal Library of the Low Countries, KBR's direct predecessor. The collection suffered repeated wartime losses: about half of the Burgundian manuscripts were transferred to Paris during the 1746 French occupation of Brussels (most returned in 1770), and a further large portion was taken by the French Republic in 1794 during the French Revolution, with most manuscripts returned to Brussels following the 1815 Congress of Vienna, though some remained in Paris. In 1772, under Charles Alexander of Lorraine, governor of the Austrian Netherlands, the library first opened to the public. A fire struck the Palace of Charles of Lorraine, where the library was then housed, in 1827; the manuscripts survived, though extinguishing water damaged many bindings. Following Belgian independence, the Royal Library of Belgium was formally established by royal decree on June 19, 1837, coinciding with the state's purchase of the private library of Ghent bibliophile Charles van Hulthem, comprising roughly 70,000 printed volumes and more than 1,100 manuscripts; the decree also introduced a legal deposit requirement for Belgian publishers. In 1842 the library absorbed the historic library of the City of Brussels. The current building on Avenue de l'Empereur, designed by architects Maurice Houyoux and Roland Delers, was constructed between 1954 and 1969, incorporating the historic Nassau Chapel. During the Second World War, following the German occupation of Brussels beginning May 1940, the library's collections were targeted for cultural appropriation, prompting efforts by director Victor Tourneur and staff to disperse valuable holdings to provincial libraries and private residences.

Collections, Holdings, and Publications

The library holds more than four to seven million items (estimates vary by source and by media type counted), including a rare book collection of some 45,000 works and the historic Library of the Dukes of Burgundy manuscripts. Since February 1875 the library has published the Belgian Bibliography (Belgische Bibliografie/Bibliographie de Belgique) based on legal deposit copies.

Access and Usage

The KBR reading room is open Monday to Saturday, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, with the KBR museum open Tuesday to Sunday; a reader's card and advance seat reservation are required to consult collections, and documents can be reserved in advance through the online catalogue.