As a result of a donation agreement, the historical archive of the scientific publishing house Springer will be kept by Berlin's Central and Regional Library (ZLB) in future. The whole collection includes the correspondence archive and more than 15,000 books published by Springer up to 1945. The historical collection also includes some 1,250 licensed editions and journals, reviews, translation files and accounting records. The move from Springer's Heidelberg offices to Berlin is currently taking place in various stages. Julius Springer opened his first bookshop on Breite Strasse in the Mitte district of Berlin in 1842. The archive is now returning to its roots - the library is currently on the same street.
The Springer archive is moving as a result of an agreement signed by Derk Haank, CEO of Springer Science+Business Media, and is being handed over to the library's Director General, Professor Dr. Claudia Lux.
Derk Haank said, "By donating Springer's archive to Berlin's Central and Regional Library, the company is entrusting this valuable historical treasure to an institution that specializes in the professional restoration of historical documents to make them available to the public. Springer wants to ensure that the collection is made accessible to the public, and is pleased to be entrusting it to the library's competent staff, who will be able to ensure that the collection is maintained in the best possible manner for the long term."
The Central and Regional Library's Director General, Professor Dr. Claudia Lux, said, "The library is delighted that this important historical collection is returning to Berlin and feels particularly honored that Springer has entrusted the library with this task. The donation agreement came about not least due to the efforts of the former publisher and Springer Managing Director Claus Michaletz, who supported the return to Berlin."
The first delivery includes the oldest author correspondence from when the publishing house was founded in 1842 up to 1936. The historical documents are initially being taken to Leipzig, where the material, some of which is 170 years old, will undergo restoration work. This first batch contains a large number of letters from Springer authors, including many famous figures from the 1920s – Einstein, Born, Sauerbruch, Courant, Hilbert, Ehrlich, Meitner, Hahn and Prinzhorn to name just a few. Other valuable documents from the early years, when Springer published works of fiction before acquiring its clearly defined profile as a scientific publishing house, include handwritten letters from Theodor Fontane and Jeremias Gotthelf. The remaining documents will be moved to Berlin during a second stage scheduled for the summer of 2009.
Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com) is a leading global scientific publisher, delivering quality content through innovative information products and services. The company is also a trusted provider of local-language professional publications in Europe, especially in Germany and the Netherlands. In the science, technology and medicine (STM) sector, the group publishes around 2,000 journals and more than 6,500 new books a year, as well as the largest STM eBook Collection worldwide. Springer has operations in about 20 countries in Europe, the USA, and Asia, and more than 5,000 employees. In 2008, it generated annual sales of around EUR 880 million.