The Library

The Library of the Kunsthistorisches Museum is a reference library that comprises the libraries of the Museum’s different collections and departments, housing a total of around 256.000 volumes. The collection of historically important books numbers around 36.ooo titles. Its main focus is on incunabula, manuscripts, maps and historical prints relating to history, cultural history and art. It addition, it houses special collections such as the Library of Maximilian with its large group of pamphlets, or the Collection of Prints that comprises documents on the history of the architecture and the interior decoration of the former imperial collections.

The Library is continually augmented and enlarged, adding books, audio-visual media, and artefacts selected to reflect the focus of the Kunsthistorisches Museum’s collections: Egyptology, Archaeology, Numismatics, ancient and modern Art History, the history of arms and armour, coach building and craftsmanship, musical instruments, history and cultural history.

The library is gradually making selected holdings available in digital form. Here you will find digital copies of the KHM Yearbook, older collection catalogs and works in the public domain:

Researching the library’s digital collections