Pictures

Picture archive with around 135,000 articles. Prints, historic and modern photography, postcards, etc.

Depictions of the regional culture of cantons in Central Switzerland with a focus on the city and canton of Lucerne. Topographical scenes, culture, history, portraits, tourism, transportation, etc.

Sperli, Johann J. (1794-1843), View of Hofquartier from the north. Watercolour, 1816 (LSc.5.1.6)
Willisau. Postcard with poststamp 1908 (P LKa.106.1.102)
Embroiderers in front of the Wartenweiler laundry shop, Lucerne. Coloured photograph, ca. 1928 (P LSa.32.24.5)

Manuscripts & old prints

The holdings of the Special Collections currently comprise around

  • 3,200 manuscripts
  • 870 incunabula
  • 183,160 printed works from 1501-1900

and consists mainly of works from the Bürgerbibliothek and the Kantonalbibliothek.

Bürgerbibliothek

2,500 items. Holdings exclusively on the topic of Switzerland and Central Switzerland, including the "Handschriften und Collectaneen vaterländischen Inhalts" by Felix Balthasar (1737–1810), The Lucerne Chronicle by Diebold Schilling, and Renward Cysat's commonplace books and theater texts (1545–1614)

Kantonsbibliothek

700 items, of which 175 are from pre-1500 (holdings from the Jesuit College (1577–1832), the Franciscan monasteries of Lucerne (1269–1836) and Werthenstein (1630–1836), St. Urban Cistercian Abbey (1194–1848) and the Amrhyn family library (16th to 19th century), Historischer Verein der Fünf Orte (1843–1915) and the private collection of Theodor von Liebenaus (1840–1914)

Incunabula

864 editions (from the Jesuit College, the Franciscan monasteries of Lucerne and Werthenstein, and St. Urban Cistercian Abbey)

Printed Works 1501-1900

183,161 volumes (of which 5,459 are from the 16th century, 9,403 from the 17th century, and 23,010 from the 18th century) Described in detail in: Handbuch der historischen Buchbestände in der Schweiz

Lucerne Publishing 

Xaver Meyer and Comp. (1798–1850), Verlag Gebr. Räber (1825–1988) 

Societal Libraries 

Luzerner Lesegesellschaft (1786–1843), Bibliothek des Historischen Vereins der Fünf Orte (1843–1915)

Private Libraries 

The private libraries of Renward Cysat (1545–1614), Franz Josef Stalder (1757–1833, Dialect Research), Kasimir Pfyffer (1794–1875, Law), Franz Xaver Kunz (1847–1910, Neo-Latin Literature), the Amrhyn Family (16th to 19th century)

Bequests / private archives

The ZHB Special Collections include approximately 160 bequests from the 16th to the 21st century. They were received from people who were actively involved in the fields of literature, art, music, science, politics and business in the Lucerne region. The collection also contains archives of corporate bodies.

The bequests of the ZHB Special Collections can be found on swisscollections.

Please note (March 2024): Due to capacity constraints and lack of space, the Lucerne Central and University Library Special Collections will not be accepting any bequests until further notice. This does not apply to commitments already made or contractual assurances. We very much regret this decision and hope to be able to reverse it soon.