Jacob-und-Wilhelm-Grimm-Zentrum / UB der HU Berlin

“Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm Zentrum“ is paraded in large letters over the entrance of the monumental building in Berlin Mitte, near the Humboldt University. In the spring of 2009, the youngest new entrant of the Berliner libraries opened. With the imposing build, the university library receives its own building, which also harbours the library of the building’s founding name—the brothers Grimm.
The facility reminds one more of the ambience of a design-setter than the dignified venerable archive atmosphere of conventional libraries. The grate arranged skylights let lots of daylight in. In the largest of all the reading rooms, the architect allowed himself a cascade like arrangement of the levels. In total, there are 1,250 reading places and a main auditorium at one’s disposal. The readers can choose from a collection of 2.5 million books—the largest open access holdings in Germany.