Library of the Institute of Research on Germany
Opening hours
- Monday to Thursday: 10 am to 2 pm
The library can usually be used during the above opening hours, but this cannot always be guaranteed due to the tight staffing situation at the institute.
Therefore, please send an e-mail or call before your visit (phone: 0234 32 27863).
The library is open to all interested users - including those from outside the university.
RUB Primo Catalogue
About the library
The Institute of Research on Germany (IDF) offers a wide range of services for guests and visitors to the Ruhr University who are interested in German topics.
This also includes the Institute's reference library, which has been collecting new publications on all areas of the topic of Germany since 1991, but also has a considerable stock of older literature from the GDR.
A significant part of the collection - around 5,000 volumes - was acquired through donations. The generous donation of his collection on GDR pedagogy by former institute member Professor Dr Dietmar Waterkamp deserves special mention. As a result, numerous "rare books" have come into the possession of the IDF, including grey literature (teaching and study plans)
In 2000, the Institute took over a small, valuable collection of fiction and cultural and literary literature from the GDR from the former library of the Gesamteuropäische Studienwerk Vlotho e. V.. This collection is not yet listed in the RUB Primo catalogue. You can access this literature via the following links:
Fiction (Vlotho list)
Culture and literature of the GDR (Vlotho list)
Please understand that works from these two lists can only be made accessible upon prior request, as they are kept in storage.
Use the library
- As a reference library, it is part of the Ruhr University library system. It is not possible to borrow items, but it is possible to take them out at short notice for copying or scanning.
- The library is equipped with six HIRN-Ports, which enable users to access the internet with their private notebooks.