Conditions of use

Due to the relocation of the collection, East Asian rare materials will not be available for use until the end of October 2026.

Starting November 1, 2026, special materials managed by the East Asian Department will be made available for consultation in the Vivarium Reading Room in the building at Unter den Linden.

Opening Hours

Monday, Wednesday, and Friday: 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Tuesday and Thursday: 9:00 AM – 7:00 PM

Registration

Please submit your requests for manuscripts and special materials in the Vivarium Reading Room exclusively via email to the East Asian Department's office, specifying the required shelfmarks and the date of use: ostasien@sbb.spk-berlin.de

Requests must be submitted at least 7 days prior to the scheduled visit.

Important Notes

For reasons of collection preservation and protection, it is possible that individual items may not be made available for consultation. In such cases, we will inform you accordingly prior to your scheduled visit.

To access manuscripts and special collections, you must present an official identification document (passport or national ID card) along with a valid library card.

There are several ways for ordering materials on East, Southeast, and Central Asia:

- via German and international interlibrary loan to other libraries.

- conventional orders (paper order forms) or,

- for materials in Western languages, via the online loan system of the Cooperative Library Network (Online-Fernleihe des Gemeinsamen Bibliotheksverbundes).

- orders within the framework of the Specialized Information Service Asia (Fachinformationsdienst Asien) may be placed via the online system of the East Asia Department and its Blauer Leihverkehr (BLV).