Bibliotheks-Exlibris

In the organizer's words:

Journey through time in the Central Library: "Library Ex-libris" exhibition shows commercial art from four centuries

With the exhibition "Library Ex libris ", the Mönchengladbach City Library, together with the International Exlibris Center, invites you on a fascinating search for clues. From April 4 to August 4, 2025, the Historisches Gladbach Kabinett in the Carl Brandts Haus central library will once again present a showcase of bibliophile possessions - lovingly documented by around one hundred artistically designed ex-libris from four centuries.

Libraries have always been a storehouse of knowledge for mankind. Their collections reflect social life, political and economic events, scientific findings and individual convictions. Their existence testifies to man's desire to understand his environment and to preserve these insights for others in a systematic and long-lasting way.

There is evidence of such classification systems in the library of Assurbanipal. Here, the title of the writing, original sources and other information were assigned to the respective texts in the form of colophons. Labels were also attached to texts in libraries of the Roman Empire. However, it is not known whether these were also used to mark ownership.

With the advent of book printing and the continuing spread of private book collections from the 15th century onwards, more and more library owners turned to bookplates to mark their own collections as such. This tradition was continued for a long time in various areas. Today, hundreds of bookplates exist, indicating their connection with libraries long past, but also some that still exist today.

The exhibition "Bibliotheks-Exlibris" presents a potpourri of prints from four centuries, the oldest of which was produced in 1618 and comes from the court library in Munich, while the most recent was designed by the artist Anika Bohnen for the Mönchengladbach City Library as part of the 2025 exhibition.

The approximately one hundred bookplates on display in the exhibition show an excerpt from the library's history. At the same time, they bear witness to the importance that was attached to this type of commercial art by the respective institutions.

Thus, items from early private libraries are presented as well as those from state institutions, foundations and modern city libraries. But the "image" of the library as a place is not neglected either. Another focus of the exhibition is on prints that show the ideal of a library in all its various forms as intended by its owner. Here it is up to the viewer to recognize what is a timeless element and what is due to the era in which it was created.