About

The Research Library for the History of Education (Bibliothek für Bildungsgeschichtliche Forschung, BBF), founded in Berlin in 1876, is an international research library and archive, which has been part of the German Institute for International Educational Research (DIPF) since 1992. It is the largest German library specialised on education, holding more than 730,000 items, 1,800 running meters of archival material and a comprehensive database and portal service.The library has thus developed into a service institution and center for research on the history of education.

The BBF collects printed publications and all types of electronic publications in the field of educational history in German-speaking countries. It retrospectively adds to its collection of primary and secondary sources and serves as an archive for institutions relevant to the history of education. Owing to its singular collection, the BBF represents the domain of ”history of education in the German-speaking countries“ in the system of special subject field libraries funded by the DFG (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft). The BBF thus belongs to the small number of 40 highly specialised German libraries that together form the distributed national research library.

The archive holds files from distinguished pedagogical institutions and organisations (e. g. from the German Educational Research Association, DGfE) as well as collections that are relevant to the history of education and numerous personal trusts and papers from pedagogues – e. g. Friedrich Fröbel, Berthold Otto and Adolf Reichwein.

The BBF indexes its archive and library holdings in customised databases that are openly accessible on the internet and it is integrated into several supra-regional and national library gateways and subject portals, among them the services offered by the Information Center for Education.

The scientific director of the BBF also holds a Professorship for History of Education which is jointly appointed by DIPF and the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.

Research activities are closely linked with the library and archival services offered to the scholarly community. For instance, the BBF realises computer based edition projects; it digitizes sources and renders them openly accessible. Last but not least, virtual research environments are developed at the BBF.

Conferences and exhibitions, which are open to the general public, also contribute to shaping the profile of the BBF.

• Digitisation and Indexing of the Photographs from the Adolf-Reichwein-Archive
• Indexing and Digitisation of Printed Material Published in the 18th Century in the German-Speaking Areas
• Indexing of Records From the German Society for Educational Science DGfE
• Indexing the Scientific Legacy of Gerhard Stierand
• Pedagogical Science and Secret Service in the GDR
• Practices in Higher Education Entry Qualification Exams and Qualification Essays From 1882 to 1972
• Specialised information service “Educational Science and Educational Research”

• Heike Balzer, Office, Bibliothek für Bildungsgeschichtliche Forschung
• Susanne Barkowski, Librarian (M.A. LIS), Research Library for the History of Education - Library
• Gisela Bednarz, Information assistant, Research Library for the History of Education - Library
• Dr. Kathrin Berdelmann, Post-doc researcher, Research Library for the History of Education - Research
• Dr. Martin Bittner, Associated researcher, Research Library for the History of Education - Research
• Viola Büttner, Librarian, Research Library for the History of Education - Library
• Dr. Stefan Cramme, Head/management, Research Library for the History of Education - Library
• Constanze Dornhof, Librarian, Research Library for the History of Education - Library
• Tilman Drope, Associated researcher, Research Library for the History of Education - Research
• Falk Engert, Information assistant, Research Library for the History of Education - Library
• Caroline Gehring, Information assistant, Research Library for the History of Education - Library
• Prof. Dr. Gert Geißler, Associated researcher, Research Library for the History of Education - Research
• Silke Güthling, Information assistant, Research Library for the History of Education - Library
• Maria-Annabel Hanke, Librarian (M.A. LIS), Research Library for the History of Education - Library
• Christine Heinicke, Office, Research Library for the History of Education - Research
• Magda Jousten, Librarian, Research Library for the History of Education - Library
• Dr. Kerrin Klinger, Post-doc researcher, Research Library for the History of Education - Research
• Dr. Stefanie Kollmann, Information management, Research Library for the History of Education - Library
• Annett Krefft, Archivist, Archive of the Research Library for the History of Education
• Dr. Christian Kurzweg, Archivist, Archive of the Research Library for the History of Education
• Angela Ladwig, Archivist, Archive of the Research Library for the History of Education
• Janine Landmann, Information assistant, Research Library for the History of Education - Library
• Vera Lautenschläger, Librarian, Research Library for the History of Education - Library
• Sabine Lehr, Archivist, Archive of the Research Library for the History of Education
• Sabine Liebmann, Librarian, Research Library for the History of Education - Library
• Anja Ludwig, Archivist, Archive of the Research Library for the History of Education
• Dr. Monika Mattes, Academic staff, Research Library for the History of Education - Library
• Lars Müller, Information management, Research Library for the History of Education
• Prof. Dr. Sabine Reh, Director, Research Library for the History of Education
• Dr. Bettina Reimers, Head/management, Archive of the Research Library for the History of Education
• Andrea Ribbschläger, Librarian, Research Library for the History of Education - Library
• Pia Rojahn, Doctoral candidate, Research Library for the History of Education - Research
• Emmi Schlesinger, Information assistant, Research Library for the History of Education - Library
• Gwendolin Schneider, Member of Staff, Archive of the Research Library for the History of Education
• Dr. Joachim Scholz, Head/management, Research Library for the History of Education - Research
• Eva Schrepf, Academic staff, Research Library for the History of Education
• Christina Strunk, Member of Staff, Research Library for the History of Education - Library
• Clara Thomasius, Fachangestellte / Fachangestellter für Medien- und Informationsdienste
• Ulrike Voges, Librarian, Research Library for the History of Education - Library
• Sibylle Volz, Deputy Management, Research Library for the History of Education - Library
• Prof. Dr. Ulrich Wiegmann, Academic staff, Research Library for the History of Education - Research
• Josefine Wähler, Doctoral candidate, Research Library for the History of Education - Research
• Britta Zach, Associated researcher, Research Library for the History of Education - Research