Weimer raises hopes for expansion of the National Library

Minister of State for Culture Wolfram Weimer (non-party) is raising hopes that the German National Library in Leipzig will get its long-planned extension after all. "My political interest is to make the National Library bigger. Physically, of course. And if we have to build it, then we'll build it," said Weimer at a panel discussion on freedom of expression at the Leipzig Book Fair. The collection of digital works also opens up new dimensions.

The Minister of State for Culture had previously made it clear that the extension in Leipzig had not yet been definitively stopped. A final review of the planning documents by the federal building authorities is still pending and long-term financing has not been secured. "However, the resulting moratorium does not mean that the project has been canceled," Weimer explained.

Loud criticism of the cancellation of the extension

The National Library, on the other hand, announced last week that Weimer had decided against realizing the extension. This provoked widespread criticism.

The extension is intended to create long-term space to store books and other media. This is the mission of the German National Library with its locations in Leipzig and Frankfurt am Main. According to official figures, around seven million euros have already been spent on planning the extension. According to Weimer, the construction itself has a total cost of more than 100 million euros.

The event with the Minister of State for Culture at the National Library remained quiet. The previous evening, Weimer had been booed by parts of the audience at the opening ceremony of the Leipzig Book Fair. His decision to remove three left-wing bookshops from the list of nominees for the German Bookstore Prize has sparked ongoing opposition from the cultural scene.