The Deutsche Pharmazeutische Zentralbibliothek

Since 1969, the Deutsche Pharmazeutische Zentralbibliothek (German Central Library of Pharmacy) is located in the Württembergische Landesbibliothek (Württemberg State Library). It holds about 20,000 books and 1.800 journals with approximately 26.000 volumes as well as offprints and calendars.

Our aim is to collect and preserve publications about both pharmacy and pharmacies and thus document the development of the pharmaceutical profession and science. The main focus of our collection lies in the history of pharmacy.

The core of our holdings is based on the former libraries of the following three pharmaceutical societies: International Society for the History of Pharmacy - ISHP), German Pharmaceutical Society (DPhG) and German Association of Pharmacists (Deutscher Apothekerverband, DAV), supplemented by donations of the Trust of the German Pharmacy Museum in Heidelberg.
Our acquisitions policy mainly focuses on recent national and international publications in the history of pharmacy as recorded annually in the  Pharmaziehistorische Bibliographie (PhB). Furthermore, the acquisition of antiquarian books, donations and bequests add to our collections.

• German and international journals and books in the fields of pharmacy in general and the history of pharmacy in particular
• publications in related subject areas with distinct pharmaceutical context
• publications about pharmacists, pharmacies and pharmacology
• literature published by pharmacists (e.g. Theodor Fontane)
• anniversary and commemorative publications in honour of pharmaceutical companies, university departments and institutes and individual pharmacies
• publications of pharmaceutical companies not generally available (so-called ‘grey literature’)
• expendable publications used in pharmacies (e.g. tariffs, drugs lists, yearbooks, calendars)
• proceedings of conferences on pharmacy and the history of pharmacy
• legal texts relating to pharmacy and pharmacies, e.g. publications of and about health insurance companies and national health services
  
  

You can find records of our collections  in various electronic databases:

• in the online catalogue of the Württembergische Landesbibliothek, Stuttgart
• in the online catalogue of the Südwestdeutscher Bibliotheksverbund  (SWB) 
• in the Karlsruher Virtueller Katalog (KVK)
• in the Zeitschriftendatenbank (ZDB), a database for periodicals

To order and use the books, you are welcome to visit the Reading Room of the Württembergische Landesbibliothek. Alternatively, you can access the collection via interlibrary loan worldwide. However, our entire collection can only be used within the library, borrowing items is not possible.

Our library is sponsored and supervised by the funding body 'Deutsche Pharmazeutische Zentralbibliothek e.V.' under the chairmanship of Dr. Karsten Dies.
Member institutions are the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Geschichte der Pharmazie (DGGP), the Deutsche Pharmazeutische Gesellschaft (DPhG), the Deutscher Apothekerverband (DAV), the Trust of the Deutsches Apotheken-Museum, the Mediengruppe Deutscher Apotheker Verlag, the Avoxa Mediengruppe Deutscher Apotheker as well as Landesapotheker­kammern and –verbände of various German federal states.

To assist and advise the library in general questions as well as in pharmacy related issues, a scientific advisory council was founded. Under the chairmanship of Prof. Dr. Michael Mönnich, it consists of librarians, pharmacy historians and pharmacists.
The library is a member of the study group of medicine-historical and related  libraries.