German Historical Institute London

17 Bloomsbury Square
London WC1A 2NJ
United Kingdom

Phone: Tel. +44-(0)20-7309 2050

URI: www.ghil.ac.uk

 

GHIL Library

 
 
Image showing a desk and chair in one of the first floor library rooms. The chair is pulled out invitingly, and a book is lying on the desk.

The library of the GHIL is an important and well-regarded institution for British historians of German history, students at London universities, and the general public. Its holdings on German history, British-German relations from the Middle Ages to the present day, and wider European history are comprehensive, up to date, free to use, and form a unique collection in Britain.

Visiting and joining the Library

Autumn/Winter opening hours:
The library is open Monday-Friday, 9.30am–8pm

New readers need to register for a library card and have a short introductory tour of the library before or during their first visit (Mo-Fr, 9.30am-4pm). Photo ID (passport, ID card or driving licence) must be provided.

Library staff are also available for general enquiries at library@ghil.ac.uk. 

If you would like to receive regular updates on recent acquisitions, featured books, and other library news, then you can sign up to the Library Newsletter.

Library Guide

Take a look at the flipbook below for an introduction to our library.

Featured Books

The Wandering Jew - a travelling exhibition at the GHIL

Reframing the Wandering Jew from its origins in medieval Christian myth, the exhibition currently on show in Reception at the GHIL presents how the legend has evolved across time and cultures. Curator Anoushka Alexander-Rose has chosen some books from our catalogue that explore the figure of the Wandering Jew in art and culture, or focus more widely on German-Jewish relations.

You can see these books - alongside a few additional books provided by the curator - in the display cases accompanying the exhibition in Reception and in the Common Room at the GHIL. There is an additional display on climate and its effect on history in the display case facing onto the stairs.

See in library catalogue
 

Lisa Lampert-Weissig

Instrument of memory : encounters with the Wandering Jew

Ann Arbor, MI : University of Michigan Press, 2024

ask librarian

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Dorothea Hollstein

Antisemitische Filmpropaganda : Die Darstellung des Juden im nationalsozialistischen Spielfilm

Kommunikation und Politik : Schriftenreihe. 1

München-Pullach, Berlin/West : Verl. Dokumentation, 1971

Sh.6/2150

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Wolfgang Benz

"Der ewige Jude" : Metaphern und Methoden nationalsozialistischer Propaganda

Dokumente, Texte, Materialien (Z. f. Antisemitismusforschung der Technischen Universität Berlin). 75

Berlin : Metropol, 2010

Sh.6/2175

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Tamar Lewinsky, Martina Lüdicke and Theresa Ziehe (eds.)

 Another country : Jewish in the GDR

Berlin : Ch. Links Verlag, 2023

So.12/649

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Jost Hermand

 Judentum und deutsche Kultur : Beispiele einer schmerzhaften Symbiose

Köln, Weimar, Wien : Böhlau Verl., 1996

Sa.12/3595

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S. S. Prawer

 Heine's Jewish Comedy : A Study of his Portraits of Jews and Judaism

Oxford : Clarendon Press, 1983

Gk/Hein 8

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Ingke Brodersen and Rüdiger Dammann

 Stories of an Exhibition : Two Millennia of German Jewish history

Berlin : Stiftung Jüdisches Museum, 2003

Sa.12/3012 a

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Alan T. Levenson

 Between philosemitism and antisemitism : Defenses of Jews and Judaism in Germany, 1871-1932

Lincoln, Neb. ; London : University of Nebraska Press, 2004

Sf.12/720

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Joshua Levinson and Orit Bashkin (eds.)

Jews and Journeys : Travel and the Performance of Jewish Identity

Jewish Culture and Contexts Series

Philadelphia : University of Pennsylvania Press, 2021

ask librarian

Read more

Roman Vishniac

A Vanished World

New York, N.Y : Farrar, Strauss & Giroux, 1983

Bn/3310

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Wayne Allen

Thinking about Good and Evil : Jewish Views from Antiquity to Modernity

JPS Essential Judaism Series

Lincoln : Jewish Publication Society, 2021

ask librarian

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David E. Fishman

The rise of modern Yiddish culture

Pitt series in Russian and East European studies

Pittsburgh : University of Pittsburgh Press, 2005

eBook ProQuest

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Library Catalogue

All of our books, journals and electronic resources can be found via our online catalogue.

Recently published books can be made available to readers very quickly, and we invite readers to suggest new acquisitions at library@ghil.ac.uk.

 

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Library Collections

The GHIL Library's holdings comprise around 95,000 volumes, with a growing number of electronic resources. The collection's focus is largely on German history, with a special emphasis on the 19th and 20th centuries. Around a third of the library's resources are English-language materials.

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Access and Services

The library is open to anyone with an interest in German history, British-German relations, or comparative historiography. The collection is reference only, so books cannot be taken out on loan.

There are no membership or joining fees but a passport photo and recent proof of address should be provided on the first visit so that a library card can be issued.

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Contact and opening hours

Contact

German Historical Institute Library
17 Bloomsbury Square
London WC1A 2NJ

Tel. +44-(0)20-7309 2050
Email: library@ghil.ac.uk

 

Autumn/Winter opening hours:

The library is open Monday-Friday, 9.30am–8pm

Meet the Team