Orient
Use of Oriental Manuscripts and Other Special Collections
Due to the relocation of the collection, Oriental manuscripts will not be available for use until October 31, 2026.
Starting November 1, 2026, manuscripts and other special materials managed by the Oriental Department will be made available for consultation in the Vivarium Reading Room.
You can find more information on the conditions of use here.
Limited service starting July 1, 2026
Starting July 1, 2026, preparations will begin for the relocation of the special collections of the Department of Oriental Studies and the Department of East Asian Studies as part of the upcoming comprehensive renovation of the building on Potsdamer Straße.
As a result, access to Oriental and Asian manuscripts and other special materials in our collection will not be available until approximately the end of November 1, 2026. We regret that other services, such as reproduction requests, will also not be available during this period.
We ask our users for their understanding regarding these unavoidable restrictions.
Scriptorium 2024: Call for Applications
The Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities and the Al-Furqan Islamic Heritage Foundation (London) are planning from 9 to 13 September 2024 a workshop on "Material Aspects of Manuscripts of the Islamicate World, with a Special Focus on Bookbinding" as part of the series "Scriptorium: Workshops on the study of Oriental Manuscripts".
Further information can be found here: Call for Applications.
Scriptorium 2023: Qur’anic manuscripts, past and present: Cataloging and digital tools
The Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities and the Al-Furqan Islamic Heritage Foundation (London) are planning a workshop on Qur’anic manuscripts as part of the series "Scriptorium: Workshops on the study of Oriental Manuscripts". Further information can be found here: Call for Applications.
