The Calvör Library

As an ecclesiastical depository - owned by the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hanover and the parish of Zellerfeld - the University Library looks after the Calvörsche Bibliothek, an important cultural asset of the Upper Harz region.

The Calvörsche Bibliothek is named after the superintendent of the parishes of Zellerfeld, Wildemann, Grund, Lautenthal and later general superintendent of Grubenhagen for the districts of Clausthal, Osterode, Herzberg and Einbeck: Caspar Calvör (1650-1725).

In accordance with Caspar Calvör's versatile interests, this scholarly library of medium size from the Baroque period has an universal character. Only half of its holdings are theological, the rest being historical, legal, poetic, philosophical, scientific, medical and geographical writings.

The cataloguing of the library, which began in 1961, was continued after its transfer to the University Library in 1963. Today, a printed two-volume catalog and an extensive index volume from the 1970s make accessible the approximately 12.000 individual writings contained in nearly 4.800 volumes. Purchases with the foundation’s funds (Calvör-Wiechmannsche Stiftung) increased the number of volumes starting with about 3000 in 1725.

In terms of its scope and cohesiveness, the "Calvörsche Bibliothek" offers a cross-section of all intellectual and spiritual currents of the 17th and early 18th centuries. In addition to many rarities (Aldinian prints, family writings, disputations, etc.), special items include autographs of Luther and Melanchthon, as well as two volumes of organ tablatures not available anywhere else. In addition, many works bear witness to the technical and cultural development of mining in the Upper Harz.

One part of the holdings is displayed in the reading room of the university library behind protective glass doors.