Editing Heidelberg University (section)

===Libraries===
{{main|Heidelberg University Library}}

[[File:Heidelberg Universitätsbibliothek 2003 b.jpg|left|thumb|The main building of the University Library, built in 1905]]

The University Library is the main library of the university. Together with the branch libraries, serving the faculties and institutes, it forms the integral university library system comprising approximately 6.2 million printed volumes. The University Library's holdings exceeded one million in 1934. Today, it comprises about 3.2 million books, about 500,000 other media such as microfilms and video tapes, as well as 6,000 printed scientific periodicals. Moreover, it has 6,900 manuscripts, 1,800 [[incunabula]], 110,500 [[autographs]], and a collection of old maps, paintings, and photographs. Furthermore, the 38 branch libraries add another 3.0 million printed books. In 2022, 43,600 active users accessed 746,000 books. Additionally, the University Library provides a wide array of online resources, among them 152,000 scientific [[Academic journal#Electronic journals|e-journals]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/Englisch/allg/profil/Zahlengesamt.html|title=The library system of the University of Heidelberg in numbers|access-date=10 March 2023|work=University Library of Heidelberg Homepage|archive-date=3 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230203143620/https://www.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/Englisch/allg/profil/Zahlengesamt.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

The origins of today's University Library date back to 1386, the year the university was founded. Surrounding the new university, the libraries of the faculty of the arts, the three higher faculties (theology, law, medicine) and the collegiate library grew. The acquisition of a box of records, which was housed in the [[Heiliggeistkirche]], through the rector, [[Marsilius of Inghen]], in 1388 contributed fundamentally to the development of the library. In the 16th century, [[Otto Henry, Elector Palatine]], combined the miscellaneous book collections accrued since the foundation of the university with the princely library housed in [[Heidelberg Castle]] to form the [[Bibliotheca Palatina]] and made them publicly accessible in the galleries of the [[Heiliggeistkirche]]. Among these collections, inherited records of the Fuggers (Augsburg, Ulrich Fugger the Elder) wereof particular importance. The majority of the library holdings, which enjoyed great contemporary renown, was looted during the [[Thirty Years' War]], transported to [[Rome]] and was gifted to [[Pope Gregory XV]] by the victorious [[Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria]] in 1622. After the secularization in 1804, the holdings of the monasteries of Salem and Petershausen formed the foundation of the reconstruction of the library collection in the 19th century. In 1816, 847 German-language manuscripts from the [[Bibliotheca Palatina]] returned to Heidelberg. As part of an exchange, the [[Codex Manesse]], which had ended up in the Royal Library in Paris, followed in 1888. [[Karl Zangemeister]] (1837–1902) became the first full-time head of the university library in 1912. Based on the designs of architect Joseph Durum, a dedicated library building, a richly ornamented, four-winged red sandstone construction, was erected from 1901 to 1905. In 1978, a branch library opened in the Neuenheimer Feld, serving the institutes of natural sciences and medicine.

Since 2021, all manuscripts of the [[Bibliotheca Palatina]] are accessible digitally online (848 German-language Palatina manuscripts, 2,030 Latin, 423 Greek, 267 Hebrew and 20 manuscripts in other languages).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/de/bpd/index.html|title=Bibliotheca Palatina – digital|access-date=10 March 2023|work=University Library of Heidelberg Homepage|archive-date=6 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230206145103/https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/de/bpd/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Their digitization was achieved through the cooperation of Heidelberg University Library and the [[Vatican Library]].

The university library expands its publication services: The Heidelberg document server heiDOK is an open access platform for members of the university. The university bibliography heiBIB lists all academic publications by university members. In 2015, Heidelberg University founded the publishing house Heidelberg University Publishing – heiUP, which is part of the university library. The publisher releases quality-controlled scientific publications in open access.