Library

The library plays an important role both for the function of the NS Documentation Centre as a research and documentation institution and for its function as a place of learning and study. It is a special library for the staff of the House and for the public to do research, i.e. for journalists, students, pupils and other interested persons, which offers publications on National Socialism in Cologne and the Cologne area and basic literature on National Socialism in general. The library also collects literature on topics such as memorials, right-wing extremism and coming to terms with one’s past. Furthermore, there is a collection of teaching materials, i.e. a collection of books for children and youths, which deal with National Socialism in a mostly literary form. A collection of newspaper articles is constantly updated with articles on dealing with the NS era today.

The library contains approx. 16,000 volumes (as of 2010) which are categorised into seven groups according to library methodology: A – Books of reference, B – Cologne during National Socialism, C – National Socialism in general, D –The time after 1945, E – Children’s and youths’ literature, T – Contemporary literature about Cologne and U – Contemporary literature in general. These volumes are works of current scientific literature such as books, exam papers and magazines; approx. 30 magazines are currently subscribed to; there are also newsletters and information papers of numerous institutions working in that area. On the other hand, the library also collects contemporary publications and printed resources. These are often communication papers by various NSDAP organisations (e.g. ‘Mitteilungsblatt der NSDAP für den Gau Köln-Aachen’, ‘HJ-Führerdienst’ – NSDAP notifaction for the Cologne-Achen Gau, Hitler Youth Führer service) or company newspapers (‘Drei- Kronen-Rundschau’, ‘Stollwerck-Post’ etc.), some of these are available as originals some as copies and are otherwise not easily accessible. Schoolbooks from the NS era, for example, are also available just like song books of various NS organisations, scrapbooks as well as many contemporary magazines. Moreover, numerous newspapers are available on microfilm such as the ‘Westdeutscher Beobachter’, the ‘Kölnische Zeitung’ as well as ‘Das schwarze Korps’ (the black corps) and ‘Der Angriff’ (the attack).

The majority of volumes – which are open access volumes – can be found in the reading room in systematic order. Books and magazines which are not directly accessible are made available upon request. The library is a reference library only, i.e. books cannot be borrowed; however, copiers and reader-printers as well as ports to connect your laptop computers are available.