Library and bookstores in Tübingen, Germany (from Professor Juergen Bulach)
大学言語文化教育研究センターのブラック･ヨーガン教授は、2023年4月から長期研修制度でドイツ エバーハルト・カール大学テュービンゲンに行っています。
ブラック･ヨーガン先生から研修先の大学図書館や街の書店の状況について寄稿してもらいました。
Professor Juergen Bulach
Professor Juergen Bulach, Faculty of Literature, Center for Language Education and International Programs, has been teaching at our university since 2002. His specialties are German as a Second Language and English as a Second Language with his research focus in the areas of dialects, bilingualism, third-language acquisition, multilingualism, and content language instruction.
Professor Bulach is staying in Tübingen, Germany for one year in 2023 as a visiting professor at the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen and has sent me a report on the university libraries and bookstores in Tübingen.
Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen
In 2023 I was invited as a Visiting Scholar by Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen (also referred to as the University of Tübingen) in the Faculty of Philosophy. Established in 1477, the University of Tübingen has played a significant role in German academia and still does today. The university is known as a center for the study of plant biology, medicine, law, archeology, ancient cultures, languages, philosophy, theology, religious studies, humanities, and is a center of excellence for artificial intelligence.
The University of Tubingen is located in the city of Tübingen, a very old city made up of only 90,000 inhabitants that is located in southwestern Germany in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg. The city has many picturesque buildings from previous centuries and lies on the Neckar River. In Germany, it is regarded as a city with a very high standard of living.
Although well-known in Germany, Tübingen is not famous in Japan or in other foreign countries most likely because there is no obvious need to promote the city to international tourists. It is, first and foremost, a university city and one can easily notice that when walking around the city with university buildings located in many places as there is no one single campus. One can see students studying, working and having fun in many different places.
Due to the university’s literary influence on the city, books play a very important role in Tübingen. In fact, Tübingen is known as “the city of books” and hosts two major book festivals that take place every year, the Tübinger Bücherfest (Tübingen Book Festival) and the Tübinger Poetik Dozentur (Tübingen Lectures on Poetry), which bring well-known authors to Tübingen for readings and discussions. Actually, there are more bookstores per capita than anywhere else in Germany.
The city of Tübingen along the Neckar River
City center of Tübingen
University of Tübingen Library
The University of Tübingen library is one of the biggest and most well-known libraries in Germany. The library contains approximately 3.4 million items, a combination of physical and digital, in its inventory and there are 340,000 actual registered users. The number of users is far greater than the population of the city of Tübingen. This is because the library can be used by people who live in the state of Baden Wuerttemberg. The library is a mix of old and new buildings and is usually filled with visitors. Many students do their studying there and take breaks in the library’s cafeteria.
University of Tübingen Library.
BMost students ride their bicycles to the library.
In front of the main University of Tübingen Library.
Inside of the University of Tübingen Library.
Bookstores in Tübingen, Germany
The Frauen Buchladen, which in English, translates to “the women’s bookstore” was opened in 1979 by nine female students for two reasons. One was to create a literary space for women during the period of the women’s feminist movement by providing works by and for women. The second reason was to establish a safe networking space for women where they could seek advice from each other without fear of recrimination.
In front of Frauen Buchladen
The Lyrikhandlung (the poetry shop) is a bookstore in which people buy their favorite poetry books. The bookstore also invites people to read and discuss poetry from throughout the world. On one day of each month in the summer, the bookstore invites students and young writers to read their original poems to visitors as a way to check their poems before releasing them in print. On the left side of the wall you can see two unique vending machines, one of which is filled with poetry of young authors while the other machine contains poems by established authors.
Lyrikhandlung in Tübingen
Lyrik Automat (Poetry Vending Machine) in front of Lyrik Handlung in Tübingen
The HP Willi Buchhandlung (bookstore) focuses on books related to the humanities, especially philosophy, history, Judaica, as well as literature. It deals in antique books as well as new books. The bookstore also actively supports exhibitions and panel discussions related to historical and literary events.
In front of Buchhandlung H.P. Willi
It looks a bit disorganized but this is because many books are often delivered to the bookstore and there is not so much storage space. It is very interesting to look around in the bookstore.
Inside of Buchhandlung H.P. Willi
The Antiquariat (antiquarian) AB Bader is a bookstore devoted to selling mostly used books which are no longer in print. As you can see, the bookstore even sells books in the front of the store at greatly reduced prices. The type of books cover the entire range of literature, the humanities, philosophy and science.
In front of Antiquariat AB Bader
Unlike many of the other bookstores in Tübingen, Osiander Buchhandlung is a chain bookstore run as a family business with 70 bookstores located throughout southern Germany. The unique point about this bookstore company is that it was originally founded in Tübingen in 1596 and is the second oldest still-existing bookstore in all of Germany. As you can see, the bookstore is located in a very old, half-timbered house in the center of Tübingen.
In front of Osiander Buchhandlung
Like everywhere in the world, bookstores face extreme competition from online bookstores. In order to survive and compete, many bookstores in Tübingen and elsewhere in Germany have to offer something different to attract customers. In Tübingen independent bookstores such as H.P. Willi and Antiquariat AB Bader sell used books, which cannot be obtained via online bookstores or as in the case of large bookstore companies such as Osiander, they contain popular books and are located in areas with many pedestrians.
