Royal Danish Library

The library was founded in 1648 by King Frederik III, who contributed a comprehensive collection of European works. It was opened to the public in 1793.

In 1989, it was merged with the prestigious Copenhagen University Library (founded in 1482) (UB1). In 2005, it was merged with the Danish National Library for Science and Medicine (UB2), now the Faculty Library of Natural and Health Sciences. The official name of the organization as of 1 January 2006 is The Royal Library, the National Library of Denmark and the Copenhagen University Library. In 2008, the Danish Folklore Archive was merged with the Royal Library.

Librarians

The first librarian was Marcus Meibom, followed 1663-1671 by Peder Griffenfeld. Later librarians included J. H. Schlegel, Jon Erichsen, Daniel Gotthilf Moldenhawer (1787–1823 notorious for stealing numerous books to enrich the library collections) and Chr. Bruun. Since 1900 the former librarians are H.O. Lange (1901–1924), Carl S. Petersen (1924–1943), Svend Dahl (1943–1952), Palle Birkelund (1952–1982), Torkil Olsen (1982–1986), Erland Kolding Nielsen (1986–2017), followed by Svend Larsen, and currently Bente Skovgaard Kristensen.

Book theft in the 1970s

In the 1970s, the library saw the largest book theft in Danish history, with the case only being resolved in 2003. Almost 3,200 works (books and similar), mostly antiques, were stolen from the library by an employee. Most have since been recovered, but a few hundred remain missing.