Strahov Monastery Library

The Royal Canonry of the Premonstratensians in Strahov, of which the Strahov Library is an integral part, was founded in 1143. The first community of religious canons came from the Rhineland monastery in Steinfeld. Despite the existence of several Romanesque codices from the oldest “layer” of the library, we cannot speak unequivocally about the conscious continuous development of the library, perhaps it can only be stated that the origin of the collections dates back to the very foundation of the monastery. In the 70s of the 17th century, the books collected after the Peace of Westphalia were stored in a dignified storage in the newly built library hall, which is now called the Theological Hall. Around the same time, the library regulations were also written. After extensive acquisitions in the second half of the 17th and during the 18th century, the growing collections required the construction of another hall, the so-called Philosophical Hall, at the end of the 18th century. The second half of the 19th and the first half of the 20th century were devoted mainly to the catalogue processing of collections. After 1950, the Strahov Library was incorporated into the newly established Museum of National Literature, and the monastery archive, music collection, picture gallery and exhibits were dispersed to other state institutions. Shortly after 1989, the monastery buildings and other confiscated property, including the library, were or are being returned to the hands of the Strahov Premonstratensians as part of the redress of some property injustices. The Strahov book collections contain about 200,000 volumes, in which there are an estimated 260,000 works. The books are stored not only in both halls, but also in the adjacent depositories. A substantial part of the collections consists of early prints from the years 1501-1800. The collection of incunabula (over 1500 volumes) and manuscripts (about 3000 volumes), which are kept in a special vault room, is also valuable.