Library of the Jewish Community of Basel

The Jewish Community of Basel (IGB), founded in 1805, owns a special collection of rare Hebrew and Jewish literature spanning all centuries of book production, as well as unique early modern printed works, dating back to the 16th century. Its collection constitutes a unique record of the community’s history and of Jewish culture in the region. The IGB Library, with its collection, is also one of the few Jewish libraries in Europe that survived the Second World War and the associated systematic destruction of Jewish books and libraries unscathed.

Since 2023, the collection has been housed in the University Library Basel as a long-term deposit collection. The collection comprises approximately 10,000 volumes and includes books and journals dating from before 1950. The deposit collection is an important addition to the University Library’s collection of approximately 3,500 Hebrew books, which includes Hebrew prints from Basel from the 16th to the 18th centuries and the library of the Buxtorf scholarly dynasty, which was acquired in 1705.

The IGB Library brings together the holdings of various historical libraries and private collections. With around 8,500 books and 1,400 journal volumes dating from the early 16th century to 1950, the collection held at the University Library Basel offers a unique insight into Jewish intellectual and cultural history.

The collection is organised around several thematic areas:

Core holdings of Hebrew and rabbinical literature

At the core is a significant collection of some of the earliest printed editions of the Talmud, commentaries, editions of the Bible, and prayer books dating from the 16^th century onwards. The collection is supplemented by numerous, sometimes unique, rare items of Hebrew and rabbinical literature, including a Kabbalistic work by Menachem ben Binyamin Recanati (1250-1310) from the early 16^th century, which has been preserved as a printed volume with an integrated manuscript. (see UBH ISR H 13865)

Rare modern printed works and documents

There are numerous valuable and rare printed works from the period after 1900, including first editions by Jewish authors. In addition, there are publications and documents on Jewish culture and history that are difficult to access, as well as significant texts about the Zionist Congresses, which may have originated from a Zionist library in Basel.

Library of the B’nai B’rith Basel Lodge

One particular sub-collection originates from the B’nai B’rith Basel Lodge , founded in 1905, a Jewish association modelled on the Freemasons. Here there are valuable, and in some cases very rare books on Jewish topics from the 19^th and 20^th centuries, including first editions published by the renowned Berlin-based Schocken Verlag (1931-1938).

Collection of historical journals

The collection contains rare popular and scholarly Jewish journals and newspapers from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries in Hebrew, German, English and French, including the “Magazin für die Wissenschaft des Judenthums”, “Der Israelit”, “Menorah”, “Die Welt”, the “Tribune Juive” and others.

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