As both our buildings are only partially barrier-free, we provide assistance using the library for disabled persons.
Please contact the on-site staff.
We recommend reaching out in advance, especially if you plan to attend events held in the Theodor-Fontane-Saal and the Wilhelm-von-Humboldt-Saal at site Unter den Linden, or in the Dietrich-Bonhoeffer-Saal, Otto-Braun-Saal, and Simón-Bolívar-Saal at site Potsdamer Straße.
A carrel is available at Haus Unter den Linden for people with severe disabilities. Please enquire about free capacities via raumbuchung@sbb.spk-berlin.de / using the keyword "Carrel."
Anyone accompanying a severely disabled person may enter the reading rooms without a library card after identifying themselves accordingly. Service dogs are also welcome.
Orientation with accessible view for better usability for people with visual impairments as well as routing via lifts and ramps for people with limited mobility.
- Parking
A parking space for people with limited mobility is available right in front of the main entrance. - Entrance
You can enter the building via ramp through the middle entrance door of the main entrance. - Information & Service | Registration (1st floor)
There is an elevator on the ground floor close to the lockers which takes you to the entrance to all reading rooms. The counter Information & Service | Registration is located behind this entrance. - Atlantis and reading room loans
Behind the admission area on the 1st floor, straight ahead towards the main staircase to the reading room, there's an elevator on the left side that leads to the main level of the Atlantis Reading Room and stops directly at the reading room loans counter. All other levels of the reading room are accessible by elevators. - Newspaper Reading Room
The newspaper reading room is located down the corridor to the right behind the entrance to all reading rooms on the 1st floor. - Rare Books Reading Room
In the Rare Books Reading Room on the 1st floor, there's a lift to access the lower part of this reading room. - Manuscripts Reading Room, Maps Reading Room, Music Reading Room, Utopia
Just past the entrance to all reading rooms on the 1st floor, to the right in the corridor, you can take an elevator to the 2nd floor to access those rooms (in the Music Reading Room you'll enter the upper level). Unfortunately, not all doors to the special reading rooms are equipped with door opening buttons. - Wheelchair-Accessible Study Desks
In the main reading room Atlantis, you'll find a wheelchair-accessible and height-adjustable study desk near the elevator as well a PC on the height-adjustable counter. In the special reading rooms, you'll find these workstations near the information desks. - Cafeteria / Restaurant
Both facilities are located on the ground floor and are wheelchair accessible through the middle entrance door of the main entrance. - Restrooms
Accessible restrooms can be found on the ground floor in the cafeteria and in front of the entrance to the Stabi Kulturwerk, as well as on the 1st floor near the counter Information & Service | Registration.
- Parking
Three designated spaces for people with limited mobility are available in the library's parking lot. - Entrance
A wheelchair-accessible entrance is located to the right of the main entrance near the Otto Braun Hall and Simón Bolívar Hall. - Registration and Pickup Area for External Loans
For online registration, a height-adjustable registration point is available near the admission control. The registration desk for issuing library cards and the pickup area for external loans are located in the rear part of the ground floor foyer. One self-service checkout machine for external loans is height-adjustable. - Main Reading Room and Reading Room Loans
Elevators to the reading room levels are located just past the admission control. You'll find your reading room loans opposite the elevators on the 2nd floor. - Areas Not Accesible by Elevator
The areas of HB 9 (Economics) and HB 12 to 17 (Mathematics, Physics, Astronomy, Chemistry, Geosciences, Biology, Agricultural Sciences, Medicine, Sports/Games, and Technology) on the gallery on the 4th floor are not accessible by elevator. Please contact staff on site for assistance. - Wheelchair-Accessible Study Desks
A wheelchair-accessible, height-adjustable study desk is located in the ground floor foyer on the left wall from the Bonhoeffer Hall, on the 2nd floor reading room near HB 3 and in the Computer workstation area, as well as in the 3rd floor reading room in the area of HB 10, each clearly marked. - Copy Center and Cafeteria
Both are located on the 1st floor and are only accessible via an elevator in the internal area. Please ask staff on site for assistance. - Reading Lounge
The elevator to this level is operated with an internal key. Please contact staff on site for assistance. - Restrooms
A wheelchair-accessible toilet, accessible with a Euro key, is located in the rear part of the entrance hall. Another wheelchair-accessible toilet is located in the cafeteria on the 1st floor.
You have access to a carrel equipped with adequate hardware (max. 35 times magnification, Windows 10, Braille keyboard, Braille printer, scanner, automatic speech output) on the 2nd floor. Get the key at the counter Infomation & Service | Registration on the 1st floor.
A reading device with up to 35x text magnification is located in the Newspapers Reading Room's anteroom.
In the special reading rooms, there is one study desk each equipped with a magnifying glass.
For persons with technical visual aids for reading literature at home, we generously make older works available for out-of-home loan, if the condition of the works permits.
A reading device with up to 35x text magnification is located on the 2nd floor in the main reading room next to the stair leading up to the Reading Lounge.
For persons with technical visual aids for reading literature at home, we generously make older works available for out-of-home loan, if the condition of the works permits.
